ON TEST
28 Australian Hi-Fi http://www.avhub.com.auR
eviewers are supposed to
reveal their biases and
affiliations right up front.
So I should reveal why I
have always admired Denon
as a company despite the
fact that I have only ever
owned two Denon products (a DL-103 phono
cartridge and a step-up transformer for it)
and have absolutely no affiliations with the
company or its distributors.
One reason for my admiration is that it’s
very quietly one of the oldest audio compa-
nies in the world, having been established in
1910 to manufacture shellac records and the
gramophones to play them. It was so success-
ful at this that US record giant Columbia took
a stake in the company in 1927. Denon then
produced the first LPs to go on sale in Japan
and manufactured a range of professional
turntables and phono cartridges for use in
recording studios and radio stations—along
with open reel and cassette tapes—before
building its first range of consumer audio
products in 1971.Another reason for my admiration is that
the company has always built high-quality
audio products, having never been tempt-
ed to go ‘down-market’ and compromise
quality. That said, I really don’t know for
a fact whether Denon was ever tempted to
go down-market, but it’s certainly never
succumbed, despite being subjected over the
years to several mergers, most recently with
Marantz, when both brands were owned by
D+M Holdings. (Itself purchased earlier this
year by Sound United, parent company to
Polk Audio and Defi nitive Technology.)
Finally, I fi nd it highly signifi cant that
Denon has always manufactured its products
in Japan, and I was certainly most pleased to
fi nd that this DCD-2500NE is no exception.THE EQUIPMENT
I have to say that my fondness for Denon’s
products and my admiration for their build
quality doesn’t extend to their appearance,
which I’d have to say is, at best, ‘utilitarian’.
The company has always cared more about
what’s going on inside its products, ratherthan what’s happening outside. You’d very
probably deduce this yourself if you try to
pick the DCD-2500NE up. You will discover
that it’s unexpectedly heavy, tipping the
scales at a shade under 14 kilos.
One reason for this weight is that rather
than use one transformer with two windings
to separate the digital and analogue sections
of the player, as most manufacturers would
do (though some would just use a single
transformer), Denon goes the whole hog and
uses two completely separate transformers to
power two completely separate power supply
sections. No way is the digital getting mixed
up with the analogue in this player!
But I suppose you might not fi nd the
weight so unexpected if you also factor in
the DCD-2500’s size: it measures 434 by 138
by 335mm (HWD)... which makes it one of
the largest CD players I have ever reviewed...
though it’s really an SACD player, not just a
‘CD’ player.
I am not certain how many companies are
still manufacturing SACD players, but my
guess is that Denon must be one of the veryDENON DCD-2500NE
SUPER AUDIO CD PLAYER