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Review: Denon APl 3910 CD Player

Category: Digital

Musical tastes : Patricia Barber , Deep Forest , Sting , Banco de Gaia , Seal , Steely Dan and anything from the FIM label . Recordings I use for testing are Chesky s Ultimate Demonstration Disc , Chesky s Women of Song , Patricia Barbers Modern Cool , Dean Peer s Its All Good , Diana Krall Love Scenes and all Burrmester discs . Most important aspect of sound reproduction to me is transparency , timbral accuracy and soundstaging properties. Turn offs are a bass heavy balance. This unit has been with me for 3 months. It replaced a Bat Vk D5 SE and marantz SA 1 . The sound changed by becoming more focused with a much larger soundstage .The players within a given ensemble seperated dramatically and it was much easier to look into the soundfield and place the space between the instruments. A favorite disc for this test is Deep Forest s "Music Detected". Each track is brilliantly recorded and is a fantastic disc for evaluating spacial characteristics of your speakers and how they react within your system . With the Denon , the sound wrapped around both sides of the room and enveloped me in a faux surround sound enviroment that no other player in my system had done. It was deeper as well as wider than any player I have ever auditioned .The Sacd version of Diana Krall "Love Scenes" is breathtaking in its imaging properties and the Denon was spot on . The acoustical envelope was clearer and more holographic with an extended top octave which added immediacy and air to percussive instruments and cymbols.A good example is Johnny Frigos "I Love Paris ". Stregnths were an obviously huge soundstage and quick midbass percussive attack. The arrangement is fast and taunt and the Denon seemed to place acoustical air around the musicians. It comes alive on the Denon. Lower bass was extended deeper and discs like the DVD-A version of Blue Man Groups " Audio " showcase the stregnths of the Denon by delivering a far superior percussive assault than the Bat , Marantz Sa 1 or the Meridian G 98 . Female vocals became natural and engaging. Rebecca Pidgeon s famous " Spanish Harlem " was so lifelike I felt like it was the first time I had heard the track. Instrumental " character " was better defined as cymbals became more easily deleniated from one another within a given song. Dean Peers " Its All Good" has a wealth of cymbal diversity on it and the decay and individual caracter of the various unique cymbals used are beautifully recreated through Alex Peychevs Denon 3910. I am no relation to nor affiliated to Alex or APl Hi Fi . I have also heard no better player regardless of price.
brainwater
fplanner2000
616 posts
 
Brainwater- Thanks for the response. The problem I'm having is that there are no dealers in Colorado except a small startup, so I can't even hear any CJ THERE, let alone in my system. C-J wasn't much help at all, so I'm pretty frustrated. I'm narrowed down to Thor (in my system next week, maybe) VAC Renaissance Mk2(ditto), BAT 31se and 51se (local dealer) and Aesthetix (local dealer).

I have heard lots of really good things about the ACT2, but there is no way I'm going to do business with a company that can't even find me a dealer to present their products. There are too many other brands out there and this is too expensive a price range to be taking these kind of chances.
I may just wait until the RockyMtn AudioFest here at the end of September, unless I hear something in the meantime that just steals my ears.
brainwater OP
520 posts
 
Fplanner , you may want to put a foot in the water by doing what I did ... Get a 17ls2 on Audiogon and give it a try. Pay about 3500.00 or so. If it is your dream piece , add 40 % sonic improvement and buy a new Act 2. You will get the signature of the act 2 by listening to the 17ls 2 as they share some of the same features , especially the teflon capacitors which give this piece a truly remarkable sonic palate. If you dont flip , sell it , you can get your money out of it , it holds its value wewll... as it should. This new gear from CJ is different from anything I have tried and is my present end of the sonic road. Its been a long - assed journey but i have found my piece of the rock! I doubt you will not agree.
fplanner2000
616 posts
 
Update: For grins, put an Electraglide Epiphany on the 3910. I was amazed - the soundstage (especially width) opened up as did the highs. Detail has increased considerably - I am now hearing things I missed with the Elrod Sig2 - another veil has come off. A very noticeable change for the better!

Brainwater: Decided on VAC, after demoing a Standard Ltd Edition. Sounds REALLY good in my system - next upgrade is probably to Renaissance MK2, which Kevin Hayes has volunteered to "tweak" for me. Please let me know if you hear of someone parting with one.
Thanks.
amperidian
67 posts
 
Thank you for the wealth of information found here, I've been looking to try an elrod statement powercord on my YBA passion amp for a while, but have also considered some of the offerings from shunyata (anaconda alpha or vx), electraglide (epiphany or the x version) and revelation audio labs (in particular the Precept which I like a lot) ... any suggestions from prior experiences? Purist may also be considered.

I own an audio aero capitole MKII SE player which may or may not compare to the APL 3910 discussed here (depending on the system I think). Power is fed by a shunyata anaconda vx ... anyone tried this pc for the APL 3910 yet? I am very pleased with the sound coming from mine. Incidentaly I know someone using a Transparent Audio Powerlink MM on his APL 3910 with more bass than the shunyata vx (otherwise very similar according to him) ... which seems strange to say as I feel that mine has plenty of it.

Also, did anyone try the symposium rollerblocks under the APL 3910? Just curious as to the effects on this player.

Keep up the good work.
fplanner2000
616 posts
 
Update: New AKM DACs in the APL 3910 - sound got even better, now playing thru a VAC Phi 2.0 preamp(Got a deal I couldn't resist). Now experimenting with Virtual Dynamics Revelation series cables as well as Siltech 110s - pretty impressive so far... Also, put Stillpoints under the 3910 with good results.
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