AMR CD-77

I also had the pleasure of participating in the AMR demo at Essential Audio last weekend. I had very high expectations for this player. Minor operating quirks aside, I can confidently say that my expectations were met. This player has an absolutely stunning bass reproduction with plenty of weight and real slam. Very, very wide soundstage with nice layering, lots of detail and very palpable images. The top end was very airy, perhaps a just a touch too ethereal and dry for my taste (and compared to Brian's state of the art analog), but I am sure this can be easily tweaked with simple tube rolling.

To sum it up, my first impressions were very positive, now I'd love to hear it in my own system side by side with my reference (Exemplar 5910).

There are posts in this thread by people speculating about products they have neither seen nor heard, nor are they informed about the history of the company and products except by what they have read here and perhaps in the 6moons review.

I suppose my sincerity may be called into question by some due to my dealer status. In view of the ensuing responses to my post mentioning the updates affecting a small handful of preproduction units, perhaps my posting anything at all was unwise. Surely I didn't expect that, considering I was trying to post clarifying information. Maybe it was too much information for the skeptics eager to raise doubts. However, I stand by my statements and challenge the doubting Thomases to audition the products before commenting.

AMR's products just now being released in final production form have gone through a far more thorough gestation period than other products do - five years, to be precise. Thorsten Loesch's active participation in the DIY community is known to many, and his involvement in this way has enabled him to consider and audition far more things than what designers typically do. He and Pat Wayne (one of the other partners in AMR who have personally invested in the company, in addition to outside investors) share about the same amount of involvement in the products' design, and they have been committed firmly to releasing the products only when all issues, no matter how small, have been addressed. Because they have been so diligent about these matters and have been so intent on getting the products working perfectly and reliably before releasing them, the product ship date has been delayed till now. Being familiar with what happened with other companies' products (Audio Aero, for example) which exhibited problems and being intensely driven not to allow such things to occur with their products, they have taken great pains to ensure tight quality control. 'Get it right the first time' clearly is their mission, and a Mk 2 version would neither be necessary nor acceptable to them. Having spoken with Thorsten, their dedication to perfection is very evident.

With the aforementioned issues resolved, the results will be clear very soon. Other reviews are coming, and soon owners will be sharing their experiences with the CD player and amplifier. Having been into high end audio since the mid 70s and having a sense of what makes successful high performance products sparked my keen interest in AMR. Based upon people's reactions at last week's open house it would seem my instincts were right on, perhaps conservative. Only by experiencing them for one's self can one make valid judgments.

Brian Walsh
dealer

All I know is that CD player is just sooo HUGE! Yikes!

Brian,
I have no doubt that the Cd-77 player sounded very well but were you able to test it on other gear??

That would be allot more helpful than 50,000 plus gear, NOT including cables and all in that price.

I believe the Sound labs themselves cost around 30,000?

I would think you could make most anything sound good on that system!
Don’t take this the wrong way, I would just like to know if you have put it in a more real world system, That would be allot more useful to me.

Thanks

Once again essentialaudio, every time you open your mouth you do AMR a HUGE disservice. Rather than having to read your defensive ramblings, the product should speak for itself. The fact that you have to continue to "sell" a product doesn't speak well for such product. If it's really that fantastic and issue free we'll hear about from end users, your credibility given your dealer status makes all your posts in this thread highly suspect.