Lyngdorf CD1

[ronc]

Taking one of these home tonight for a demo.

Anyone heard one? Opinions?

Dealer's claim is that they are well under priced (he sent me a copy of a Ken Kessler article stating that they could be dropped into a £50k system without disgrace - mind you KK (and every other reviewer) seems to be held in low esteem on this forum).

Heard the player at the dealer's place, and it sounded good (but obviously we used his amp, his speakers, etc, etc).

 

[batman]

interested to your views on this fella ... keep us posted

 

[earl of sodbury]

Heard it a few times fronting TacT/Lyngdorm sytems driving expensive Dali speakers at several shows: those certainly sounded superb, and I must admit that if one had come up at the right price during my recent upgrade I wouldn't have hesitated to try it.

But your impressions are what will really count

 

[musicbox]

I've got one at home at present, on loan from Shadow Audio

Its very very good for the money, very clear and quite forward sounding - so maybe best with slightly darker sounding amps or speakers. After a lot of thinking and comparison I wouldn't change my Marantz SA-11 for one. The Marantz is slightly laid back by comparison but more 'human' and comfortable to my ears, even though there is clearly less detail coming through. A tough choice. If I was starting from scratch with a different system I'd definitely try the Lyngdorf again.

 

[Shuggie]

I've had a CD-1 for a while, partnering a Lyngdorf TDA2200. I demo'd the CD-1 at home on its own before I bought the pair, and found it to be very clean sounding but still musical. Most noticeable was the quality of bass notes, which was way better than I had heard before, through a Pioneer CD recorder feeding digits to a TDA1543 NOS DAC, which in turn utterly trounced my old Arcam Alpha 9CD. The home demo was using the CD-1 as a transport only, and I still use it that way, feeding the TDA2200 via a balanced Vertex digital lead. Note that the CD-1 has switchable upsampling, but only on the digital outputs. I actually prefer the native 44.1kHz/16 bit setting, as it's got a bit more balls and life than any of the upsampling options. The analogue outputs follow 96kHz/24 bit conversion, which cannot be altered.

I did have the chance to compare the CD-1 in a mate's ATC system to his £2k Densen CD player and it was preferred by both of us, so I would agree that it punches above its price. Lyngdorf are also quite good with new firmware over the internet, and the latest update solved an operational irritation with the Lyngdorf remote handset.

If you find serious fault with the CD-1 at the price, then maybe you are chasing rainbows!

 

[Davewhityetagain]

ronc wrote:

(he sent me a copy of a Ken Kessler article stating that they could be dropped into a £50k system without disgrace - mind you KK (and every other reviewer) seems to be held in low esteem on this forum).

Could be because he is a waste of space

 

[ronc]

Yes, the price is lower than I was looking at being prepared to pay (I've just sold my Wadia 270 Transport, which I got second hand for about £2.5K) so for £1.5k I was certainly not thinking of something brand new - but I am trying to approach the task without bias, and if this compares to something two or three times the price then that's great. I'm not really expecting it to, but that is the claim being made, and I am keeping an open mind.

I personally believe that amp and speakers have more effect than source (I know loads of people take the opposite view, so don't jump on me) so I am willing to believe that a CD player at a lower price point might get to a level of performance where the diminishing returns law makes it not sensible to look further.

For similar money (just a little over £2k) there are second hand Accuphase players around, so that is the comparison I need to make. I also wonder about Bladelius?

 

[icehockeyboy]

Davewhityetagain wrote:

ronc wrote:

(he sent me a copy of a Ken Kessler article stating that they could be dropped into a £50k system without disgrace - mind you KK (and every other reviewer) seems to be held in low esteem on this forum).

Could be because he is a waste of space

Dave, can i ask why you think that of KK? There is possibly a good reason, but im not aware of it, so enlighten me if you would please. Cheers!

 

[ErikFH]

:lmao:

 

[Davewhityetagain]

icehockeyboy wrote:

Davewhityetagain wrote:

ronc wrote:

(he sent me a copy of a Ken Kessler article stating that they could be dropped into a £50k system without disgrace - mind you KK (and every other reviewer) seems to be held in low esteem on this forum).

Could be because he is a waste of space

Dave, can i ask why you think that of KK? There is possibly a good reason, but im not aware of it, so enlighten me if you would please. Cheers!

I have read loads of the crap he has written, and some of the stupid comments he has made over the years.

If you want good reason buy a couple of back issues of hi fi news

Christ by the end before he left, even the editor was having digs at him, also letters to the editor that got published where often ones having a go at him

not 100% sure, but he has in the past written in defence of "magic stones" type snake oil stuff

the last time he wrote an item of one of these strange things, which a forum member said was something like a coin wrapped in cling film

I wrote to the editor saying ken has lost the plot and is well past his sell by date and needs retiring off with a pension

 

[The Swedish Chef]

Shuggie wrote:

I've had a CD-1 for a while, partnering a Lyngdorf TDA2200

---------

The home demo was using the CD-1 as a transport only, and I still use it that way, feeding the TDA2200 via a balanced Vertex digital lead.

interesting comments shuggie.

i've been thinking about changing the wadia combo an using a the dac in the tda2200 with adedicated transport. what did you demo this against, whats speakers are you using and have you looked at the room correction software?

dave what is it about you and kk, seems like a personal tirade?

 

[Shuggie]

interesting comments shuggie. i've been thinking about changing the wadia combo an using a the dac in the tda2200 with a dedicated transport. what did you demo this against, whats speakers are you using and have you looked at the room correction software?

I did not demo the Lyngdorf against anything other than my existing gear. I liked it so I bought it. Simple as that. I'd been using valves for some years and wanted something that gave the same sort of musical satisfaction without the costs (tubes and electricity mainly) and safety issues. One thing that I did discover (to my surprise) was power, and the reproduction of dynamic contrasts that the valve amp (WAD KaT88) did not manage.

The speakers are Focal Dalines, which are relatively old slimline quarter wave floorstanders. Wind the volume up on the TDA2200 and it's utterly amazing what 5" cones can manage in terms of bass grip and control!

I have considered room correction, but at the moment I'm unconvinced that my relatively modest listening room has acoustic ills that cannot be managed in other ways. Room modes are the main issue, up to 200Hz or so, and I'd rather live with the effects, or move my listening position slightly, than cough up for RoomPerfect at this stage. Given a more complex room, I might feel differently.