Atoll CD50 CD Player $1650

(3.75h, 17.32w, 12d, 14 lbs)

Made in France With Three Year Warranty!

As regular readers know, I’m a big fan of CDs and CD players. As a classical piano fan first and foremost, I don’t care to listen through mechanical noise and PRETEND is isn’t there. IT IS.

Further, the speed and wow/flutter variations on LPs with piano music can drive you nuts. It isn’t even likely that the pitch of a piano through your turntable will be close to accurate. If you use a speed app on your turntable you’re likely to see something very disappointing- even if your ears haven’t caught it first. And that’s before we worry about your cantilever doing the hula dance. With an Atoll CD player you can be sure you’ll be spot on with no wavering.

The same holds true for great female singers with sparse accompaniment. I also like to choose the disc I’m going to play and am very likely to listen to the entire program- as the artist intended. The silver disc is my favorite format for this. I find streaming fine for keeping me company. But for diving into the depths of Chopin, give me CDs, please. Please ignore CD naysayers. The masses said LPs were dead in the early 80s. How did that turn out?

What’s amazing about Atoll is that its family of CD players sounds conspicuously warmer, smoother and has more impact than the cheaply built Chinese players most people have. There is far more luster to your CDs than you’re likely aware of. Many customers have reported that they’ve happily gone back to CDs since buying an Atoll player and learning how much better they sound.

CD50 is the first full sized player in the line. It has 8 power supplies, 3 transformers and 16,700uF of power supply capacitance. This heavy supply is the base of CD50’s rich sound. CD50 uses Burr Brown DACs without negative feedback. Atoll wants minimal processing to keep its sound musical instead of sterile. Atoll takes great pride in its voicing of CD players. They don’t just plug in high processing chips, which have a proclivity to sound quite electronic.

Atoll has hit the nail on the head of marvelous sounding gear at reasonable pricing. Atoll designers carefully listen to their products in the design phase. Atoll prefers the Burr Brown DAC sound for CDs vs a myriad of competitors. They’re quick to tell you that what they DO around the DAC, is more important than the DAC itself. Atoll’s line stage, post DAC, is discrete. They don’t run a pile of chips.

CD50 has a fast, responsive mechanism. It’s a joy to use. Most CD players, even the fine Marantz line, tends to be tardy in response to your commands.

CD50 has an open/airy sound for this reasonable price point. If we compare it to the most logical competitors, Denon/Marantz from Vietnam, or NAD from China, the Atoll has more impactful bass and a less bright, grainy flavor.

Atolls present a spacious image. It’s uncanny how a large soundstage can enhance your appreciation of the recording. Many modestly built CD players cut corners in the power supply and deliver a sound that’s lean and two dimensional.

I heartily encourage you to get an Atoll CD player because you’ll enjoy your collection more than you ever have. CDs have a lot more to offer than you’ve heard.