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REVIEW: RCA 5223P CD Player/Recorder Review by blake at Audio Asylum

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OK-No laughing and hooting. It's even hard for me to believe I'm writing this review, but this has actually happened. Recently I read a post on Audiogon suggesting that the Toshiba CD player with HDCD (probably costs about $400 or $500 easily outperformed many audiophile players in the $1000 to $2000 range. This got me to thinking I should do a serious sound comparison of my RCA DVD player to my Arcam Alpha 8SE CD player. As the RCA was sited across the room from my amp, I was running a cheap set of Monster Cable as interconnect, while the Arcam benifited from close proximity with Silver Audio Silver Bullet 6.0's. Out went the Arcam, in went the RCA. I was also using a Cardas Golden PC on the Arcam and a Blue Circle BC 62 on my amp and feel the Cardas to be a better cord so (as the RCA player does not have IEC) I switched the Cardas to my Audiolab and the Blue Circle was not involved with the RCA player.

Here goes: As far as treble extentsion and "cleanliness" it was a wash or pretty close to it-both players were pretty similar in this area. Surprise #1. In the midrange, the RCA player was better, period. More detail and information, smoother, more liquid presentation, vocals easier to follow, everything more "fleshed out". More musical-less hi-fi. I have always found that different players have a different presentation and this situation was not an exception to the rule. The Arcam may have emphasized certain musical info more than the RCA and the RCA was probably a little more laid back (less "front row" than the Arcam) but I did not feel I was missing anything where most of the music was happening; on the contrary, the RCA player was more detailed, and less strident at the same time. Surprise #2. In the lower frequencies, it was a tough call. The Arcam probably exerted more "control" over bass lines and the RCA as a little fuller, less "taut", possibly loose. I feel this is a pretty subjective area where some might prefer one over another. In my system, I enjoyed the RCA's bass presentation more; there seemed to be more of a "foundation" beneath most of the music-in my opinion, better tonal balance; the sound was richer and fuller, again more musical less "hi-fi".

With HDCD encoded discs, the Arcam did seem to impart more "spatial" info; it seemed to offer more "air" around instruments and vocals, but even this was a tough call. The RCA does not have, or makes no mention of HDCD ability and for this price, I think it's a safe assumption it's not there.

The only "variable" in this comparison is the switch of the Cardas cord from the Arcam to the Audiolab. With the Arcam in my system, I definitely preferred the Cardas cord on the Arcam and the Blue Circle cord on the amp; the system sounded more relaxed and musical with a nice full presentation. The switch of the Cardas to the amp with the RCA in the system may have contributed to this performance-it's that "system synergy" issue raising its ugly head. I had posted a very positive remark on the 8SE as recently as about 10 days ago here, and I still believe it to be a very good CD player (I started with the Alpha 7, upgraded to 8, then upgrade to 8SE with significant sonic improvements each time). I'm pretty shocked with the result of this comparison and I put my money where my mouth is: I sold the used Arcam player for twice what I paid for the RCA DVD player (forgot to mention it plays movies too!), and the power cord situation allowed me to sell an LAT cord I was using on my turntable's line conditioner. Net result of all this-I have better sound (I can hear the guffaws coming!) and about $825 (Canadian) that I can put in the bank.)Pretty hard to believe but true. For all the disbelievers out there (and I'm sure there will be many) I also have a pretty decent analogue front end (Michell Gyro with Premier FT3 and Ortofon MC 20 Super), so I do have a half decent idea of what reasonable sound is.


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Topic - REVIEW: RCA 5223P CD Player/Recorder Review by blake at Audio Asylum - blake 11:02:29 08/20/00 ( 2)