Cheshire Audio Review - The Atoll CD100 CD Player - Is CD Dead? Think Again!

[@Kobryner1]

I sold 3 years old Emotiva ERC-4 and bought Atoll CD100 Signature. Indeed a gem of a player

[@snarf4058]

I have the Atoll IN300 amp - very very good. Looking for a CD player and a streamer too - couldn't see the Atoll streamers on your site, but do you have any experience with the ST200 streamer?

[@markjohnathanappleton8642]

Great videos , keep up the good work, always informative and honest

[@potsy1013]

Looking for something around a grand. Have never even heard of these! But I am interested in giving it a try 👍

[@att0987654321]

Definitely prefer CD over streaming 👍🏻

[@bw8827]

Another great video from Phil, a guy who is clearly passionate about his hobby and his trade. Always interesting and strikes a fine balance between waffle and information. A thoroughly nice bloke. Also, thanks to him, he has introduced me to the Atoll brand, which I'm currently investigating.

[@kirkhilton3798]

It’s so refreshing to see someone on KZbin who knows how to correctly open a jewel case.

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

Can’t believe that the Rega Apollo has been discontinued, it’s something that I intended to buy this year. I hope that the new version isn’t much more expensive when it’s available as that would be my maximum outlay as I mainly play vinyl.

[@thebestoffools]

Me too as I only have space for an half width component. I hope the newer model won't be as wide as the Saturn.

[@suzysharpe2141]

Agreed. Definitely, we need the Apollo back. Surely the supply chain issues can't go on for ever.

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

@@thebestoffools I have ended up buying the Cyrus which is a slim front loader that fits nicely next to my Rega Fono Box MK5

[@elkartian]

I'm still using CDs ,I have loads of players,my main one is a Quad 67 ,it takes a lot of beating,I also have an Arcam Diva 73 with Wolfesn dac ,it sounds wonderful.i have 2 Sony 930QS ,the ones with the Puck,I use it as transport with my Musical Fidelity Digilog that I've had from new .I am thinking of having a listen to the Rega Saturn 3 as I'm very interested in the Dac to use with my mini discs and Philips 730 DCC player

[@DruvisR]

Love your videos, especially about CD players.

[@elise10lies84]

Hi Phil, how is the cd transport Atoll DR100 compare to this one?

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

I love cd I’ve 7 different CD players

[@cliveangel5729]

Hi, what about Cyrus CD players there still manufacturing great Players CDiXR 👍

[@andrewbrazier9664]

Cyrus sounded great with their matching XR amplifier & Power supply at this years Bristol Hi Fi Show with floorstanding speakers. Sadly the whole set up outside of my budget

[@lupus7194]

I've got a good DAC. If I were to buy a good CD transport, am I sure to get good sound or is it better to go with an integrated package (that I can go listen to) like the Atoll you featured in this video.

[@itsmorphed6416]

Probably would be better invested in a transport only .

[@TriAmpHiFi]

Music CD player format has been here for 50 years (omg) now. There's a new fangled DAC every other week. Don't marry the two, they'll hate each other forever after the honeymoon.

[@aprobin1]

I’d love to go back to CD but I’m more or less wedded to Roon now. I have a small collection of speakers and a couple of the larger pairs benefit from a small and judicious use of DSP in Roon Core to help with a room node at 36Hz. I’d loose this ability with a CD player.

[@dell177]

My first cp player was an early NAD that blew away all the other players Rweeterwas selling back in the 80's - it wasn't expensive but it it just sounded much better. I still use it in my office settup. I now have the PS Audio transport and the Direct Stream DAC which do a fantastic job but cost a pretty penny together..

[@offraed6156]

Hope to come and listen to one of these this year. I have to say I thought the Rega Apollo sounded good and better than other modern players I heard, but not as good as some of the original Red Book players from the 80s and 90s. I am hoping one of these Atolls will replace my old Arcams that probably won't have much longer to live.

[@Phil_f8andbethere]

Ive got an Audiolab CD transport which feeds into my Naim Uniti atom and sounds great. But so does the same music streamed from Tidal, and my FLACs ripped from CDs, all played through the same amp. I'm not convinced that CD is superior to any of the other options tbh - it's all 16 bit 44.1khz delivered bit perfect to the DAC/amp to do it's thing, whichever path you choose. I know some will wildly disagree, but the main thing is we all enjoy our music whichever way we lean. I actually prefer my vinyl 9/10 to any digital source, but that's another hot potato!. Great review though of a nice brand.

[@stuarteldergill]

Reminds me of my old French YBA Lecture Special

[@greggles69]

My first cd player was the (British built) Cambridge Audio CD2, which was regarded as one of the best in the world for sound quality. Unfortunately, it was poorly built and extremely unreliable (I had 2 replacement displays fitted before I gave up on it). I'm currently using an old Apollo R (as a transport only) in my main Linn/Kudos active system. I've also just bought the new Cambridge Audio Evo CD Transport for my office system (connected to the matching Evo 150 Streamer/amp) and I'm really impressed with it. I'd love to hear it through my main system, but unfortunately it only works when connected to the Evo 150 (or75)!

[@moshezuhmih]

Have you tried simaudio moon 260d cd player?

[@chrisclose7793]

I have a Tascam cd450 and had a bluesound node2i and the cd450 blew the node2i out of the water performance wise

[@TriAmpHiFi]

SssshhH!......... Don't tell anybody about Tascam streamers, CDs & Blu-Ray. 😎 My DVD 1U is sweet.

[@r423sdex]

Your imagination is strong !

[@Revelator2025]

Is it Redbook centric?

[@JohnVander70]

Is it anywhere close to a Naim CDX 2?

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

I use a Melco server now for my digital front end but still buy cd's for it. I don’t stream and I like actually owning the physical media. Also cd's are cheap to buy so very easy to build a collection and get the early versions of albums before they've all been ruined by the non stop remastering gravy train which streaming services only offer.

[@Mark-P]

Nice player, but I’ll stick with my Apollo!

[@evowhite777]

You should change the internal fuse at the back it`s a T250ma(slowblow) - I sh!t you not it`s a "MASSIVE Improvement."! And the best thing is if you don`t like the change you can send the fuse back for a FULL refund win,win, win!!

[@offraed6156]

What's your thoughts on top loaders v draw loading CD players. I ask because as an experiment with one of my several old Arcam players, I placed a rubber CD sized disc on top of CDs in the player and there was a clear improvement in sound quality in that the sound lost most of its metallic or glassy sheen, that you don't appreciate is there until its gone. The player clearly was not built to have this extra weight and thickness to a CD so after a few months, the CD spinning mechanism started to fail, and tick during playback. However, it told me that stability of the spinning disc improves the sound notably. Is this what top loaders do?

[@tonyjedioftheforest1364]

Can I really be the first to view?

[@christophermaley6822]

When people mention blue tooth, I think go to the dentist matey.......

[@EA-58]

A cd player that cost € 1250,- that has to warm up 🤨

[@Justin-fy7xk]

Put the kettle on.

[@TonyCottrell-iv2qv]

Just don't switch it off!

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

Most electronic equipment sounds best after 30 mins or so as the biasing circuit warms up and stabilises. I just leave it on for the day of I'm playing music on and off.

[@davidcarr2216]

Keep on taking the blue pills guys , after you've drunk the Kool Aid and swallowed the BS. Always love the part where the reviewer says, "well you put this on and it does this and sounds like this and makes your Dire Straits sound better". If it does any that you should demand a refund and if it doesn't do any of that then it's all BS anyway !! Think about that.

[@net_news]

what's BS exactly? CD players sound very different if you use the analog outputs.

[@davidcarr2216]

@@net_news The point is that they really don't when they're designed properly. The other day I compared an Audiolab 8300 CD player to a Schiit Modi 3 and an SMSL DAC. They all sounded the same. If CD players/DACs sound different then they've been tweaked/tuned to sound that way, it doesn't happpen by accident or by magic. If you tweak an audio product it will show up in the measurements, ie it will become less accurate than it should be. In any case, tweaking gear is pretty pointless since what happens in a recording studio is way more important than any amount of tinkering to provide a "desired sound".

[@net_news]

@@davidcarr2216 well, DACs sound pretty similar, there are differences but they are nuances not night and day. Regarding the tweaking/tuning, I agree they usually apply DSP to alter the sound... but thing is, if you like how it sounds, tweaked or not, that's ok to me. In the end satisfaction is the most important thing, if you like it then it's good.

[@davidcarr2216]

@@net_news OK. Just be aware that the HiFi business is a gigantic grooming industry, first and foremost.

[@net_news]

@@davidcarr2216 👌