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
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.
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.
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.
Amperidian,

I tried the Elrod Statement II on the APL 3910 (now with the superior AKM DACs) with great success. Adding the Statement to the rest of the system brought about a cummulative improvement. Soundstage, cleanliness, and refinement are now awesome in my all Statement system. The Statement is synergistic with the Sound Application Reference Line Stage AC line conditioner.

I also tried the standard Symposium Rollerblock 2+ (with Grade 10 bearings) as well as the upgrade 2+/G3 (with Grade 3 bearings) under the APL. I settled on the 2+/G3 in the upside-down position (base against the chassis bottom and bearing on platform). The Grade 3 bearing adds a nice element of refinement: silkier highs and improved cleanliness and micro-transients. The platform is the Symposium Ultra. In my system and to my ears, the Ultra is superior to the Bright Star Big Rock, Gingko Cloud 11 and the Aurios PRO under the APL: cleaner, more transparent, better bass (definition and extension)and truer harmonic texture. On my upgrade path, I keep learning the importance of synergy.

Best Regards,
John
I agree with you John, system synergy is key but I do find personal listening preference plays just as big a role ... needless to say that it varies tremendously in the audio world.

As regards the symposiums I use throughout the entire system with consistent results everywhere. Double stacked configuration under my AA player (w/ gr.3 balls) and under my YBA passion amp (w/ gr.10 balls)... in single stacked configuration under the whest audio dap.10 with similar results as described above by you .... they are simply the best isolation device I've come across. I do however find that an islation base underneath the rollerblocks further improves their overall performance ... especially in the bottom end.

What powercables did you use in your system prior to the elrod statements? The only obstacle in my system would be their unidirectional flexibility, which is a real problem in a narrow space between cabinet and wall, especially when you need to further bend them at the ends to reach the YBA and Hydra plugs. I use the Hydra 4 powerconditioner in my system (with additional isolation here too) with shunyata anaconda vx, a taipan alpha and a precept (from revelation audio labs). I'm looking at upgrading from the taipan as we speak but don't have any elrod dealers nearby and fear that the statement may not be able to fit in my system due to its limited flexibility ... and am tempted to go for another anaconda on the amp due to the synergy you mention above with conditioners. What I like most about the anaconda's is their transparency ... it gives me an opportunity to use interconnects and speaker cables to fine tune the overall sound of the system. The anacondas offer refinement in the highs without constriction or roll-off, have a nice organic character, are not bass shy in my system, offer wide soundstage, are very quiet and clean as well, with speed (but not quite as fast as the electraglides) ... similar to most cables in this price range ... but the elrod statement has been highly recommended to me, especially for the amp and I would love to hear one but at the moment it's not a possibility. From what I'm told, the elrod adds more weight/body to the overall presentation compared to the anaconda alpha. Any thoughts/suggestions on this topic? By comparison, the Precept is also very good. It offers excellent speed and dynamics with truly visceral bass (but that's not what I like) and is very open in the highs ... overall an excellent contender who ended up on the DAP.

Sound Applications is not new to me, and I think along with Shunyata and Transparent Audio, they are probably among the top 10 best conditioners around for sound and I think each one offers its own synergy with a particular set of powercables. For video I hear the Gray's are the best.

Thanks for your thoughts, will defintely try to audittion an elrod if I can find a dealer.