The Audio Research Reference CD7 CD Player

By now you’ll have figured out that this player exposes and dismisses preconceptions and prejudice with equal ease. As someone who grew up with analogue replay, I sometimes wonder whether it’s fair or even sensible to always be comparing compact disc with records? I still believe that good analogue recording and replay is better at capturing the essence of a performance, what music is really about. That superiority depends on the specific strengths and capabilities of the format; the way it is able to present the information. Yet the ARC CD7 closes the gap significantly, precisely by doing fundamental things as well as a good record player, while still retaining the strengths of digital replay. Can it just be the addition of that sophisticated valve output stage? Whatever the reason it’s delivered considerably greater pleasure from my CD collection than anything else I’ve used. In fact, the CD7 sounds a lot like music, which means that it doesn’t sound like either a CD player or a record deck, the mark of a really outstanding product. As a reviewer there are some products (fewer than you might think) that you just know you’re going to miss when they go. In the last few months the CD7 has snuck so far under my guard that parting with it is going to be quite a wrench…