SMSL PL150 Review (CD Player)

[GWolfman]

Reading this late as I’m comparing with the more recent reviews. Thanks again @NTTY!

 

[ChenHui]

Hey everyone, I found out that the PL150 is available for purchase again! SMSL has finally stocked up.
https://smsl.shop/products/pl150
Good news： You can order it now
Bad news： BUT it’s on pre-order

 

[Bleib]

Hey everyone, I found out that the PL150 is available for purchase again! SMSL has finally stocked up.
https://smsl.shop/products/pl150
Good news： You can order it now
Bad news： BUT it’s on pre-order

Says it ships in 10 days. That should be OK for most

 

[Kitty (S.M.S.L Marketing)]

Thank you all for the ongoing discussion!
Just a small update from the manufacturer: a new batch of PL150 units will arrive toward the end of this month.
For anyone who has been waiting, this period will also include some seasonal discounts on our official channels.
Appreciate everyone’s support!

 

[Mookalafalas]

I finally decided to buy one, but there is no stock anywhere... Looking at some of the above posts (such as from SMLS itself!), it seems like they will be coming back, but it seems rather strange they would disappear across the board like that. Anyway, I'll try to be patient and see if they return.

 

[NTTY]

There seems to be some stock here.

 

[ChenHui]

I finally decided to buy one, but there is no stock anywhere... Looking at some of the above posts (such as from SMLS itself!), it seems like they will be coming back, but it seems rather strange they would disappear across the board like that. Anyway, I'll try to be patient and see if they return.

I placed an order on November 23rd, but smslshop hasn't shipped it yet. Now when I checked again, it's out of stock—I guess they've accumulated a huge backlog of orders.

 

[EJ3]

I placed an order on November 23rd, but smslshop hasn't shipped it yet. Now when I checked again, it's out of stock—I guess they've accumulated a huge backlog of orders.

I rarely am an early adopter. But I was on this. I guess that was the right play. We'll see what happens long term after I put it into my system after Christmas (waiting on my son to get here from overseas on Dec 25) so that we can do that together.

 

[Kitty (S.M.S.L Marketing)]

I placed an order on November 23rd, but smslshop hasn't shipped it yet. Now when I checked again, it's out of stock—I guess they've accumulated a huge backlog of orders.

To ensure that our customers receive products of the highest quality, we are working at full capacity to produce and test the PL150. Orders will be shipped gradually in about one week.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

[Mookalafalas]

To ensure that our customers receive products of the highest quality, we are working at full capacity to produce and test the PL150. Orders will be shipped gradually in about one week.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.

That's good news. I was hoping to get myself one for Christmas, but can wait a while longer. Someone earlier in the thread talked about the loader scratching the disk. I'm guessing production has stopped while this (potential?occasional?) problem is fixed in production.

 

[Bleib]

Both PL100 and 150 in one picture

No idea which player is in the middle (Edit: It's PL20, see link two posts down)

For me the higher end players are uglier, and likely not as easy to clean

 

[Mookalafalas]

Higher end? I don't recognize the company. The SMSL flagships have top-loading, but don't look anything like these...

 

[Bleib]

VMW is SMSL's higher end brand, example:

SMSL VMV D1se MQA ES9038PRO Audio DAC freeshipping - HiFi-express

SMSL VMV D1se MQA ES9038PRO Audio DAC 768kHz 32bit Bluetooth 5.0 USB Optical Coaxial RCA DSD512 Decoder With Remote Control Brand Name: S.M.S.L Type: Desktop DSD Sampling Frequencies: 2.8224...

www.hifi-express.com

Found info on the black CD-player here, called PL20

PL20

Foshan ShuangMuSanLin electronics Co., LTD. founded in 2009 which located in Shenzhen, China. And our branch company VMV Technology(HK) Company Limited registered in HK in 2013. Our company is specialized in the audio DAC, stereo headphone amplifier, power amplifier, and with own R&D...

www.smsl-audio.com

 

[Mookalafalas]

Good find! Thanks. I found the PL20 on Amazon earlier. It mentions using it in your car, like an ultra portable.

The PL150 is listed again at my Amazon (Japan), but puts delivery date in mid January.

 

[ChenHui]

Good find! Thanks. I found the PL20 on Amazon earlier. It mentions using it in your car, like an ultra portable.

The PL150 is listed again at my Amazon (Japan), but puts delivery date in mid January.

SMSL's PL150 can also be used in cars.
And you can purchase it on AliExpress, where they have it in stock. I still think the PL150 has the best appearance.
The PL20 seems like an upgrade of the PL100, but the model number is smaller. I haven't seen this model for sale on SMSL.SHOP, so I suspect it's a "distributor-customized model".

 

[Mookalafalas]

Almost everything at AliExpress is cheaper than Amazon Japan, except, for some reason, the PL150. I ordered one, and just got the message that it has shipped! I'm quite excited.

 

[Bleib]

PL20 is also available here now

SMSL PL20 CS43131*2 Bluetooth 5.3 CD Player

Buy SMSL PL20 CS43131*2 Bluetooth 5.3 CD Player with Free shipping on HiFiGo, you can enjoy a year warranty and the best after-sales service

hifigo.com

>High-Performance CD Player with Built-in DAC.
>Lossless CD Ripping Functionality.
>Dual CS43131 DAC Chips.
>USB Flash Drive Playback Support.
>Instant CD Playback Support.
>One-Click CD Rip Function.
>Two-Way Bluetooth V5.3 Connectivity.
>High-Quality CNC-Machined Aluminum Alloy Chassis.
>Gold-Plated Input and Output Connection Terminals.
>Supports DSD Playback(USB Drive, DSD-Format CD Discs).
>3.5mm+4.4mm Dual Headphone Output Ports.
>Coaxial, Optical Digital Output and RCA Analog Output.
>Full-Function Remote Control.

 

[EJ3]

SMSL's PL150 can also be used in cars.
And you can purchase it on AliExpress, where they have it in stock. I still think the PL150 has the best appearance.
The PL20 seems like an upgrade of the PL100, but the model number is smaller. I haven't seen this model for sale on SMSL.SHOP, so I suspect it's a "distributor-customized model".

USED in Cars: Thank You for letting us know that: Now I can play my CD's in my wife's 2024 Subaru (my 2004 Chevy SS Silverado has an aftermarket Pioneer head unit that will play CD's & DVD's [on a dash screen], has Bluetooth and backup camera features.
Not having a factory CD player as an available option in cars (even if I have to pay substantially more for it) is definitely NOT a feature.

 

[anonyless]

Could someone please explain to me this none sense power supply argument (cheap audio man on the PL150 from yesterday's video on CD players):

"Could you get the SMSL to sound better? Yes, with an external DAC and figuring out what type of power supply to buy, because you have to buy your own 5V 2 amp plus power supply. And most of those are just crappy wall warts that people use to charge their cell phones or their iPads. And that's not it. The music does not get enough respect when you have some garbage power supply and that does impact the sound. So, I would skip it."

video is set to the exact moment of the above quote

 

[Bleib]

He can be entertaining but it's almost never scientific... the default CD-player is better than his ears and his speakers