Sound character of Grundig CD9009

[Leadfeather]

I hope that there is anybody here that can help me with the following.

I have read about the Grundig CD-9009, but I have never actually heard one. I am very familiar with the sounds of the Philips CD880, the Marantz CD94 MKII and the Sony's CDP-337ESD and 557ESD. How would you describe the sound / sound character of the 9009 compared to the mentioned Philips/Marantz/Sony's?

Anyway, I hope there is somebody in this forum that can tell me more about it. For your reference, my perception of the mentioned players in my system:
- Philips CD880. Nice balanced sound. Wel defined, maybe lacking a bit of authority in the lower regions.
- Marantz CD94 MKII (my regular player). The most smooth and well-balanced of my players, but less dynamic than the Sony CDP-557ESD
- Sony CDP-557ESD. The most dynamic/aggressive of my players. It brings some CD to live, but with some music it becomes too much for me. Very authoritative bass, and assertive treble.
- Sony CDP-337ESD. More balanced, but also less lively than the 557. To my ears (in my system with my music) soundwise closer to the 880 than to the 557.

 

[fpitas]

Welcome to ASR! Honestly, if different CD players sound different, they're probably broken.

 

[LTig]

Here at ASR descriptions of sound usually require measurements to back them up, or a description how you got to those impressions in a properly controlled blind test.

 

[fpitas]

Here at ASR descriptions of sound usually require measurements to backup them, or a description how you got to those impressions in a properly controlled blind test.

And I'll add, so far we haven't seen credible evidence that CD players differ, except in rare circumstances.

 

[fpitas]

It's not a new subject:

Can different CD *transports* sound different - when fed into the same DAC?

Apologies if this has already been done, but nothing really discussing this came up when I searched. The question is simple, but I don't have enough technical knowledge of SPDIF etc. to say whether it is even possibly the case, or not. But my thoughts are that it sounds very unlikely anyway...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[threni]

I also have a "legacy music playback device"! I just checked - It's not been used in ~20 years - it's a Marantz CD6000Ose (Original SE - Limited Edition) CD player. With a name like that you'd think it would be amazing. Maybe it is; however it also sounded identical to a £60 or so Sony Diskman. This was an informal, non-blind test but it was my first clue that all these companies were largely reinventing the wheel in different shaped/sized boxes and there was, in fact, no difference regarding "authority in the lower regions", balance or definition.

 

[fpitas]

I also have a "legacy music playback device"! I just checked - It's not been used in ~20 years - it's a Marantz CD6000Ose (Original SE - Limited Edition) CD player. With a name like that you'd think it would be amazing. Maybe it is; however it also sounded identical to a £60 or so Sony Diskman. This was an informal, non-blind test but it was my first clue that all these companies were largely reinventing the wheel in different shaped/sized boxes and there was, in fact, no difference regarding "authority in the lower regions", balance or definition.

Obviously your system isn't resolving enough

 

[JeremyFife]

Welcome to ASR, it's a friendly place - really

Takes a while to adjust to the point of view that subjective impressions are just that - subjective - subject to bias and almost impossible to communicate usefully. When listening tests are done properly, there's hardly ever a difference between functioning digital equipment.
That Grundig has digital out features (bypassing the DAC) and in that state it's a digital transport - with no sound character unless it's broken.
If you use the analogue output (use the internal DAC) then there may be some impact if the DAC is really poor ... but even then it's unlikely to be audible

Read some of the threads here to acclimatise and understand why these points are being made. I find it refreshing, honest and absolutely invaluable

 

[Leadfeather]

Thanks for the responses! To be clear I don't use them as digital transports. I use the build in converter and the analogue outputs. I can not tell where the difference is coming from, but to my ears they do sound different. When I have time, I will try to set up a proper blindtest.

 

[JSmith]

Grundig CD-9009

Grundig CD-9009 Fine-Arts – Bram Jacobse

www.bramjacobse.nl

JSmith