i've worked hard this weekend -- listened to the APL NWO 3.0-GO on Friday into the wee morning hours then today spent the morning with friends and the AMR CD-77 and my Reimyo CDP-777. actually my time with the CD-77 was seriously limited because the purpose of this audition was for my friend's benefit as he is in the market for a source and i couldn't stay that long. plus we had a ground loop issue that held up listen for about an hour.
a little background story, after my friend heard my Reimyo for the first time he liked it so much he wanted to buy one, yet never venturing down this road before and being a prudent audiophile he wanted to listen to other sources. i believe to date he has heard the Ayre C-5xe, Meridian 808.2, Emm Labs CDSA, Esoteric X-01 and finally today the CD-77 -- all with his rig and headphones. during this process he revisited the Reimyo two other times, which included today's session. after he heard each player, i'd hear his listening impressions and to be frank i was surprise as good as those other players are and are considered in the pro reviews and audio community he still continued to like the Reimyo. today was the final showdown as the CD-77 was the last player on his list.
i listened to just one track, A Day In The Life off the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper -- once on the AMR then the Reimyo and back to the AMR for the first two minutes of the track to mess around with the oversampling and the upsampling. my friend has a balanced Zana Deux, but i could only listen singled-ended with my L3000s so that's what i did.
before i get to my limited impressions, let me say the look and build quality of the CD-77 is mighty impressive. everything just exudes quality from the remote to the chassis to the transport -- the buttons on the front panel are touch sensitive with a blue LCD backdrop lighting, upon a finger swipe or ginger touch they light before you even press a button. the remote is predominately metal with AMR engraved near the bottom and the touch screen lights up blue when held, though, this particular remote didn't have immediate responsiveness. the metal workmanship is truly exquisite not only to the eye, but to the touch as well. the color is a little darker than my photos depict, which i can't say how much i really liked the color -- freaking awesome. the entire transport was spring loaded so when you touch it, it works a bit like a shock absorber platform -- i don't believe i've ever seen this design choice in a cdp before. additionally, the little green dot is a mini-level, which was pretty neat. the puck was nice, but seemed thin especially in comparison to the overall unit and my Reimyo's. the sliding metal lid over the transport operated so easily and exceedingly smooth, unfortunately the Reimyo doesn't slide as well. in all i thought the AMR CD-77 is the finest looking cdp i've had the pleasure to experience up close. it also comes with an awesome pelican like flight case. as of this month the price on these units increased by something like 30% and what else -- it's made in china and it's got a USB input, which the Reimyo does not.
ok, now the serious stuff -- sound. on first listen i didn't do oversampling or upsampling, but still within seconds, the CD-77 made it abundantly clear it's ability to extract a ton of info off the disc making certain micro details slightly more easily discernible than on the Reimyo. further the CD-77 leans into the analytic realm with slightly more treble extension and air while also offering more separation between the instruments plus the presentation is somewhat dry overall, though it still retains a wonderful musicality and smoothness. it did just so many things spot on such as but not limited to tone, speed, control, timing, focus and dynamics. considering my limiting listening session and more time could provide better founded conclusions, my ear detected a slight heat or hotness in the treble region. granted most people wouldn't notice this, but if sensitive to it or after longer listening session it could be an issue for some. another concern that would likely require more assimilation to the CD-77 sound is my reference male vocal track didn't sound wholly natural to my ear and possibly this could be limited to just male voice, which i not only felt sounded a bit dry, but also an extremely minor and i mean minor sizzle like quality in the high frequencies. beyond these concerns and given my reference source the CD-77 seemed a bit mechanical and not as involving in comparison. one other thing worth noting, i felt the CD-77 didn't reach as deep, though, had slightly more control than the Reimyo. i make absolutely no apologize that i prefer the Reimyo and not by a small margin either, but i wouldn't be so arrogant to think that within the fifteen minutes i spent listening to the CD-77 my ear warmed to its sound signature plus it's new and only has about two weeks of constant play time on it. in all fairness, my Reimyo hasn't been used in weeks and only had about two hours on it whereas the CD-77 had been powered on for a week. regardless and without any hesitation, the Reimyo is just pointblank so much more organic, musical and natural sounding to my ear. it provides a far more euphoric, involving and bitingly emotional listening experience. it hate to say it because it sounds silly, but the Reimyo has this magical type quality -- it's got a soul. i could go on about the reimyo's virtues, but that's been done. don't get me wrong, i think the CD-77 is one of the finest cdp i've heard, but i am not going for this hi-fi analytical sound, and granted the CD-77 isn't overly analytic at all, but in comparison to the CDP-777 it sure seemed that way.
