I’m tremendously excited to introduce you to Atoll’s fabulous line of CD players. Atoll is made in France with a 3 year warranty. While all of its gear is outstanding, I want to pay special attention to my favorite source, the compact disc. It’s my favorite way of listening to music!
One of the main reasons I enjoy CDs is that they SOUND BETTER than streaming. That’s right. When you have a great player like an Atoll, just listen to a grand piano on CD vs streaming. The CD will sound more true, warm and well tuned.
We only have so much time in a busy life to enjoy our hi-fi systems. I want to put my disc in the tray and hit play. I want to play the program all the way through as the artist intended. I’m not interested in the cult experience of LP & stylus cleaning, worrying about VTA/azimuth- and listening through clicks/pops and noise, while PRETENDING it isn’t there. Been there, done that, and am really done with that.
Odds are that you haven’t heard a CD player built like an Atoll. Most of us have only had flimsy Chinese players with small power supplies and a pile of chips. Atoll isn’t built like those and sounds much more open and full. Analog lovers would say Atoll CD players sound analog.
If you listen to vinyl through a Chinese rattle trap turntable with a throw in cartridge, you would say vinyl sucks. You’d hear rumble, feedback and screechy sound. Well… that’s what most audiophiles have been listening to via their Chinese CD players.
If you haven’t been hooked on CDs, odds are you’ve never had an Atoll, Bryston or McIntosh. All these big dogs take you to a higher echelon.
As you look at the bar graph of performance, a system is only as good as its weakest link. If you start with a generic CD player or turntable/cart, you’re fighting a losing battle. Even a nice amp and fine pair of speakers is undermined by the level of the source at the start of the chain. Your amp and speakers can be a 10. But if your CD player (or turntable/cart) is a 3….
Let’s analyze the all important SOURCE, in this case, ground breaking compact disc players from Atoll, made in France. They’re built much better than the chip laden gear from China. They sound warmer with significantly heavier bass and dynamics. You won’t believe the improvement you’ll hear in HEFT and solidity. Atolls track well, have a quick, responsive mechanism and are quite reliable. If you run an Atoll CD player at the front end of your system, I guaranty you’ll rediscover your CD collection and appreciate the format more than you ever thought you could.
And don’t believe that nonsense you hear about CDs becoming extinct. The CDs you have now will last as long as you do- hopefully another century or two. CDs are still available for purchase. There has never been a better time to buy Box Set compilations. Since Covid I’ve bought big boxes from Pollini, Argerich, Freire, Kissin, Lupu and Uchida. When great musicians die, their anthologies will be out in about a month!
Nuts & Bolts
The heart of any CD player, just like an integrated amp, is the power supply. All of the Atoll models feature multiple power supplies, based around a substantial toroidal transformer, on a steel chassis. They all are built on PCBs of nickel and gold construction. They all have quick responding transports that track well and have excellent isolation. They all have a second transformer to isolate analog/digital functions. They all have a large bank of filter capacitance to keep the sound robust and dynamic.
When you look inside an Atoll CD player, it looks like a piece of art. You don’t see runs of dental floss all over the place. The design is exquisite and efficient.
Atoll CD players have a discrete line stage with symmetrical layout for their analog output. The other guys use chips/op amps and run wires and ribbons all over the place. Atoll takes great pride in voicing these line stages with TLC, vs just running an array of chips. Atoll uses Burr Brown DACs that have been chosen for their specific sonic characteristics in CD circuitry.
Please don’t think that a newer chip from this or that supplier is superior. Just because a chip has more processing capability, doesn’t make it better sounding. In fact, Atoll says they’re able to voice their differential circuitry without feedback with BB, while the other guys running the latest greatest chipsets have to tame loads of processing with corrective electronics. Atoll’s doesn’t have to add deleterious corrective circuitry and achieves a more relaxed, natural ambiance.
All Atoll CD players above MD100 feature DAC INPUTS, as well as outputs. Logically, you can run a good affordable streamer like a Bluesound into an Atoll CD player and benefit from the Atoll DAC within. You don’t have to sweat your integrated amp or preamp NOT having a DAC on board.
And remember, the Atoll DAC sections with Burr Brown designs don’t use feedback.
The Sound
Atolls are most definitely warmer and deliver more bass than the other guys. The improvement of dynamics and bass impact in particular, puts Atoll CD players in a class above the main stream.
This culmination of choices makes Atoll CD players sound ROBUST. They deliver a noticeably bigger kick in the bass than their less sophisticated competitors. Playing an Atoll CD player is like replacing a modest turntable with a heavyweight- with moving coil cartridge. With Atoll you get smooth, spacious imaging that allows voices to pop from a black background. Singers stand out more clearly to deliver their message. CDs have a lot more to offer than you’ve been aware of. Please consider an Atoll for an ear opening upgrade.
CD Players
MD100 $900
(2 1/2h, 12 5/8w, 8d)
3 regulated supplies, 3 & 2VA transformers, 10,411uF caps
CD50 $1650
(4h, 17.5w, 11d)
6 regulated supplies, 6 & 4VA transformers, 8192uF caps
CD80 $1750
(4h, 17.5w, 11d)
8 regulated supplies, 6 & 4VA transformers, 12,892uF caps
CD100 $2200
(4h, 17.5w, 11d)
8 regulated supplies, 10 & 4VA transformers, 13,032uF caps
Uses higher end differential stage technology
CD200 $2950
(4h, 17.5w, 11d)
8 regulated supplies, 10 & 4VA transformers, 13,032uF caps
Uses higher end differential stage technology
CD200 also has DAC input
Atoll CD Transports
If you already have a fine DAC built into your (Atoll?) integrated amp or preamp, then you just need a CD TRANSPORT for great sound.
DR100 $1200
(4h, 17.5w, 11d)
30VA transformer, 14,141uF filter caps
Optimized for jitter reduction
DR200 $2000
(4h, 17.5w, 11d)
30 VA transformer, 22,100uF filter caps, supports AES/EBU
Optimized for jitter reduction