Summary and Conclusions
The Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x Red Book CD player is the 'unicorn' CD player I had always hoped for, but never really expected to be achievable.
Audio Note (UK) says about the CD 5.1x: "The CD 5.1x is a completely new machine which elevates the one-box CD player to hitherto unknown levels of performance. Never before has it been possible to achieve such quite astonishingly superior levels of digital replay from a single chassis, integrated design."
That statement is not just marketing hyperbole, that's the reality of listening to music with the CD 5.1x. The CD 5.1x offers an extraordinary level of performance, and has the remarkable ability to deliver the musical performances encoded on CDs in a way that I found to be competitive with top-notch LP playback.
I found myself listening to CDs and LPs of the same albums in my music library just to be thrilled by what I was hearing from the CD 5.1x. The level of performance the CD 5.1x offers is simply extraordinary. It can equal, and even surpass top-notch LP playback in a number of ways.
One of those ways was the amount of information the CD 5.1x was capable of recovering from CDs. Routinely it provided more resolution of meaningful musical information from CDs than I was hearing from my LPs of the same albums. There's a lot more information encoded in those Red Book CDs than I had ever imagined. The CD 5.1x let me know that additional information was there and that it was meaningful.
Another way the CD 5.1x was able to exceed the performance of LP playback was in its ability to cleanly resolve the lower frequencies, convey their dynamic gradations in a more articulate manner, and provide a sense of power and authority in the music when it was called for.
Another way the CD 5.1x was able to exceed the performance of LP playback was in its ability to play music at soft listening levels while still retaining a natural tonal balance, a vivid presence of musical detail, and impressive dynamics, that allows it to deliver a sense of power and authority in the music even at soft SPL levels. You can listen at lower SPLs, carry on a conversation, and still hear everything in the music.
The CD 5.1x possesses a musically 'accurate' overall voicing that I find very appealing, a voicing that provided a realistic presentation of natural tone, timbre, and dynamics, along with an uncanny ability to deliver the intense emotional impact from the musical performances encoded on Red Book CDs.
A particularly endearing trait of the CD 5.1x's voicing was that it excelled at delivering the maximum amount of musical engagement across the spectrum of low- to high-fidelity recordings that span the eras of the recording arts from 1877 to today.
That's a trait that is sure to delight music lovers who wish to enjoyably listen to everything possible from Planet Earth's vast recorded music canon. Its possible—as I found out—that you'll come across an occasional CD that is produced so poorly that not even the CD 5.1x can rescue it musically, but that's a rarity.
Not only is the CD 5.1x able to convey eminently musical listening sessions from CDs, it is also extremely capable at delivering all the audiophile visuospatial parameters like transparency, resolution, soundstage, soundspace, and imaging, in extraordinary fashion.
The top-of-the-line Audio Note CD 5.1x deeply impressed me in terms of its sound quality, musicality, and of course its build quality, which is extraordinary.
Pop the top cover off and you'll immediately see where the CD 5.1x's $30,850 USD price tag comes from. The components inside are of impeccable quality, and its design is an audio engineering masterpiece.
After living with the Audio Note (UK) CD 5.1x Red Book player for a while now, I am more impressed than ever by its level of performance.
It used to be that I had to go back to my LPs from time-to-time to get a high-fidelity "fix"—that lofty level of sound quality and musicality that I thought only analog could deliver.
It turns out that through the CD 5.1x that I can now get that same level of high-fidelity "fix" from CDs. I'm still rather stunned by that outcome.
In case you haven't noticed, this is a rave review of the CD 5.1x, and it's the easiest recommendation ever, as long as it fits in your budget.
The CD 5.1x is extraordinary, and I've loved every minute of time I've spent with it. I'll be a sad Jeff when it has to go back home. Highly recommended!
I would like to thank Peter Qvortrup of Audio Note (UK) for providing his Audio Note (UK) components for me to listen to and write about for you, and for sharing with me his vision for audio and music.
As always, dear readers, thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
CD 5.1x Red Book CD player
Retail: $30,850 USD
Audio Note (UK)
Contacts for sales inquiries: Daniel Qvortrup and Peter Qvortrup.
