Consonance Droplet CDP owners

I have owned my Droplet CD5.0 for 6 years. I recently purchased an Ayon CD5 used and did an A/B comparison on these units both AMP direct and also using a DAC Mini Max DAC tube setting. The System:

AMP=Moscode402 modified with Vishays and Mundorf
SPEAKERS=Von Schweikert VR5s with Hovland
CD=Droplet CD5.0
POWER CORDS=Shunyata Pythons on CD and AMP
INTERCONNECTS=Granite Audio 470 silver, Transparent Ultra and Black Cat Veloces.
SPEAKER CABLES=Verbatim Bi-Wired

After 3 months I felt the Droplet was much more musical, had a much better soundstage, far less analytical, and overall an easier to listen to CD Player. I sold the Ayon CD5 and kept the Droplet. The Ayon was much too analytical for me.

I have also Auditioned the Audio Research CD8, the Sim Moon Andromeda and the Wadia 781. The 781 is close but for 15K it should kill the Droplet and it did not.

If you are not hearing this type of musicality then look at other areas of your system. Cables are everything on all equipment. If you are using the cord from the mfgr then this is most likely the problem.

I have enjoyed this player and have not heard anything to compete with it to date.

Feel free to email me as I have been in audio for 45 years and this is my passion.

Totally agree with Btaudio!

Wow, it is amazing to me that three users of this player had found it such a poor machine. Makes me wonder if something else in their systems was the cause of the bad sound they heard. If anyone is getting "a restricted soundstage and a mechanical, non-lifelike sound", you have to question what is in the rest of the system and how the system is set up in the room. If anyone is hearing noise "from several feet away coming from the machine", then it's a good chance their machine's laser system was damaged during shipping 'cause this machine operates silently. Anyone who has issues that "it did not live up to it's $3K sound" again need to check the rest of their system. Compared with the Resolution Audio Opus 21 ($3500) and the Ayre CX-7 ($2950), the Droplet was sooooo much more listenable and musical, complete with deep and wide soundstaging, pinpoint imaging, and a realness to the sound neither of those other players had. If "it just didn't fit into the system", then its sound had nothing to do with one liking it or not, it just did not fit inside a rack. This is NOT an "overrated player" by any stretch of the means. If you "have noticed on Audiogon that these players now go for nearly half off list", it might be because Americans think Chinese made products have little resale value and thus, priced it cheaply on the used market. Funny how the Opus (an inferior player to the Droplet), still garners the same price on the used market, if not more, than a year ago. Take full advantage of the low price of a used Droplet by owners who don't care for it. Once you get yours, put the unit complete with their spiked feet on 2"x2" maple blocks or myrtle blocks and hear its great detailed soundstaging abilities, very real sounding vocals with texture and harmonics to boot. Do NOT use any floor protectors underneath the spikes, they will make the Droplet sound closed in and plain ol' not good.

Email for more details. Thanks to a fellow Audiogoner, I have been a happy and proud owner of a Droplet for many months now, and it's still surprising me how real recordings of Sinatra and Ella sound, day in and day out. Not bad at all for half retail, not bad at all.

I also have found my one to be excellent sounding! Add some high end cables - DCCA the Source & Eminence XLR Interconnetcs and it brought the sound quality up a notch as well.....I guess it is all system based anyway.......For me it looks great and sounds great too.........and didnt cost 10k plus!
Just my 2 cents worth........

Nope. I certainly haven't heard that from mine. Just amazing music. As Ulf says, huge soundstage, clean but saturated hues. The best I've ever heard.

In contrast I have found the Droplet to be exellent sounding.
Varm lifelike big soundstage etc. Perhaps the cheapest way to get a hint of high end!

Agree w/Kira and others, at least on a "family" basis. The 2.2 I owned exhibited the same mechanical quality. No soul or emotion. IMO a very ordinary machine masquerading behind a fancy exterior. The Quad CDP-2 I replaced it with hammered it to a pulp while managing to look quite understated, some might even say drab.

Thanks Stereo for that update. Sorry to hear of your experience. Besides I asked a member how the Droplet compared to the Cayin 17, said he "I prefered the Cayin 17"...a player I bought here 2 yrs ago NEW shipped from HK for...$1K ship included!! thats 1/3 the price of the droplet. Insult to injury.

I agree that this was an overrated player, and as such, I have noticed on Audiogon that these players now go for nearly half off list!!!

I never heard the spinning through the speakers, but did hear it from several feet away coming from the machine.

Also true was the reelatively high temperature the top of the unit would get to.

My issue was that it did not live up to it's $3K sound. It was O/K, and better in balanced mode, but it just didn't fit into the system.

I had to return mine after several hours as the digital motherboard went bad, and then to add insult to injury, I was sent a replacement that was a unit waiting for repair that was sent by mistake (I do realize it was the dealers fault here).

The final replacement was sent, but had imperfections in the wood block that were noticeable from a distance.

After all this, I just gave up the fight and sold it.

Hope you have better luck with yours!!!!

Kira - This player cannot compare in any way to my new EMM 1 box player, but for the price, it sounded excellent. Analog like sound with a nice open stage. Missing some detail, but still enjoyable to listen to. It does sound digital and artificial compared to the EMM (EMM is 3 times the price), but the EMM player cannot compare to my analog front end (Grand Prix Monaco table/ Dynavector arm/cartridge), and so the story goes.

I never have the problem with the CDP. Hope it helps.

I had this player for 2 months and I don't recall hearing this. What I did hear, however, from a fully broken-in player was a restricted soundstage and a mechanical, non-lifelike sound. I dumped it at a big loss. One of the most overrated pieces of gear I have ever run across.

All I can say is that I'm glad I have the Cayin 17
sorry can't help ya You could have done worse with the "Stibbert". An italian job.