General Asylum: REVIEW: AH! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD Player/Recorder by carlo

I've been searching for a CD player to replace my hard sounding (but convenient) changer. I've gone through a Rotel RCD971 and the AH Njoe Tjoeb in recent weeks, and much of this review will be a comparison between the two players, along with my Adcom GCD700 of course. But first thing's first: I'd like to thank Kevin Deal from Upscale Audio for his generosity with lending the player to me, especially considering it isn't imported yet. In case you didn't know already, he's an excellent dealer.

Details about the player can be found on the above website, and I'm sure the majority of you are familiar with the '99 and '98 versions, so I won't get into technical information here. It should be said though that it is a nice looking player, very easy to use (but what CD player isn't...) and seems well built. The remote is flimsy but isn't a hinderance.

After 48 hours of breakin, with the supplied military Phillips ECG 6922s, the player sounded very laid back. The soundstage was much too recessed for my taste (from the speakers back), and in truth the presentation lacked any excitement. I didn't hear the attack of the Rotel, and the decay of instruments didn't sound convincing. Perfect example is Dave Matthews' Band's "Crush" (from Before These Crowded Streets) - the track usually has me rocking out in my listening chair, but here I got bored quick. Lou Reed's newest, Ecstacy, is another album I love listening to, but on the AH I only liked it.

However, detail was excellent, I played all of Radiohead's Kid A and transients just jumped out. The opening track, "Everything In It's Right Place", is really a collection of electronic parts kind of haphazardly slapped together, and the AH player let it all out. This wasn't something I was expecting from a CD player with tubes, but there it was. The Rotel is, of course, known for it's ability to dig out the subtleties of a recording. In my system though, it was more offensive than revealing. In other words, subtle equalled obvious. With the AH!, subtle sounds are subtle. Kid A's next track is the title song... once you get there with the AH!, you start losing interest again.

After a few hours of this I swapped out the Tara Labs Air 3 cables I was using in favor of the Synergistic Research Alpha Sterlings I had on hand. The soundstage moved forward about half a foot, and suddenly the player became much more enjoyable. There was air around instruments, and the top end sounded more extended. This, of course, made the player sound slightly more exciting, and lead to higher perceived detail. I decided to hook up the player directly to my power amp (it has a variable volume control - more on this later) figuring that one less component in the signal chain should be a good thing. While the soundstage moved to where I wanted it (about a foot in front of me), the player sounded a bit too grainy. Back went the preamp.

At this point I was ready to return the player. While I liked what it did right, I didn't think it fit my system very well. It was musical, more so than the Rotel. The problem was, everyone sounded so far away that I really didn't care what they were playing. The RCD971 (and my Adcom) bring the players closer to me, and through that lets me hear farther into a recording. This, to me, is paramount. So I packed up the player, called Kevin, and told him I'd be dropping by to return it. He asked my impressions of the player, I told him, and I said I'd love to hear it with different tubes. There were some Phillips 7308 tubes in the box (I got one of the demo units for CES) and he suggested I pop them in, let it run for a day, and give it another listen. I also had three more days to re-evaluate the player. So, round 2 begins...

It could be that the player got another 24 hours to break in, or it could be the tubes, but suddenly everything came together. The top end really became extended and the soundstage was as deep as I've heard. Everyone took a big step toward me, and the player shined. I spent at least ten hours straight listening to favorite CD's, at one point even pulling out Wyclef Jean's The Carnival (a rap album, but good anyway) for a spin. Instead of listening to tracks of albums, I was listening to entire albums with joy, foot tapping and all. Before this, I was leaning towards the Rotel, but not anymore.

Not to say the player is perfect. In my system, the soundstage, while deep and wide, wasn't as specific as I'd like. The image of each supporting player on most recordings (Clapton's Unplugged, Joni's Blue, and the new Essential Bob Dylan to name a few) wasn't specific, creating something close to a wall of sound. I had a stable center image, but everyone else kind of fuzzed out. Well not that bad, but not as good as the Rotel. Yes, I did play with speaker placement. And that volume control... I realise my preamp cleans some of that grain out (or at least it's not as audible to my ears), but I don't like knowing it's there. I would have much rather have had a fixed output. On something as tweeked out as this player, why leave a volume control in the signal path? I also only spent about five minutes listening to the supplied headphone jack, after which it became obvious my preamp's is superior.

All in all a nice player. I decided to purchase the unit and get in on the preorder special Kevin's got going on right now. I'm looking forward to trying out a few more tubes to get the sound exactly where I want it, and that's what I think is the best thing about the player. With the 7308's it's ahead of the more expensive Rotel in most regards, the most important one being enjoyability. I loved listening to music on this thing, and after a while I stopped caring about comparisons. As I understand it, the player'll be in within the next few weeks... I can't wait.

REVIEW: AH! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD Player/Recorder Review by carlo at Audio Asylum