Posted by manualblock [ 69.112.43.172 ] on January 20, 2006 at 17:42:49:

In Reply to: A cheap DVD player posted by Bob Brines on January 20, 2006 at 16:00:21:

I use a Panasonic SL 5470c portable Discman in the practice room. Someone gave it to me and I never thought about it in terms of quality until one night I needed a quick source player in my better system. Imagine my surprise when it sounded better in some small ways than my Rotel 991 CD player.
Upon inspection I see it is built like a tank and uses MASH circuitry. It also has a remote.
I don't know how to explain that except to considor the possibility that they all use similar DAC chips and that the analog circuitry just doesn't really count for much in under 1k units. I tried the little Panasonic in another system that uses a CEC deck that I like. While the CEC sounded smoother in some way it wasn't significant and shocked the owner I can tell you that.
The Gainclones seem to have a nicer tone than some of the SS gear I am familiar with but that is a snap judgement without comparison. Puzzling.

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