Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site rabbit.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!alice!rabbit!dsj From: dsj@rabbit.UUCP (David S. Johnson @ ) Newsgroups: net.audio Subject: revox, NEC, and yamaha CD players Message-ID: <3079@rabbit.UUCP> Date: Tue, 21-Aug-84 17:58:32 EDT Article-I.D.: rabbit.3079 Posted: Tue Aug 21 17:58:32 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 22-Aug-84 02:10:06 EDT Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Lines: 33 (Is there really a first-line gobbler?) I recently auditioned the new Revox CD player, switching between it and the Yamaha CD-X1, and between it and the new NEC player. (This was at Stuart's Audio in Westfield NJ). Compared to the Revox, the Yamaha had a subjectively flatter image (less ambience information), and also tended to get a tad harsher (pianos and voices), especially as the volume went up. The NEC, on the other hand, was essentially undistinguishable from the Revox, although the salesman claimed to detect a difference. (There certainly is a difference in price: Yamaha $500, NEC %1000, Revox $1150.) The explanation for this may just be in the sampling technique: NEC and Revox use the Philips quadruple oversampling method, whereas Yamaha does just double oversampling. If this is the case, then something like the $650 Marantz 54, which also quadruples, may be the best buy. I haven't heard or seen it, however, and decided to go with the Revox for its programming features and more solid-seeming construction than the NEC. The NEC is awkward to use because all the controls are in a pull-out drawer rather than on the front panel (they detach for remote control operation, but I didn't think I'd use than much.) After I'd ordered the Revox and was asking about servicing, the salesman mentioned that a number of Yamahas had been in the shop because of laser alinement problems. (Since it was AfTER the order, I tend to place more credibility in it than the claim he made, before the sale, that "many" of his customers had traded in their Yamahas for Revoxes.) When the unit arrives, I'll post my "in-home" evaluation to the net. David S. Johnson, AT&T Bell Laboratories.