Here is my review of the DCD-A110, which I got a little over a week ago ... I hope it’s helpful:
The Denon DCD-A110 Anniversary Edition is a terrific piece of gear. Yes, I know, the SACD/CD formats are purportedly dead and streaming is all the rage currently. Well, I’m somewhat of a Luddite, and still want to play physical media given my extensive collection of discs and the tactile joy they bring.
"Mr. Denon" replaces a 20 year old Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D CD player. Right out of the box, there is a gravitas and tremendous detail to the Denon. As great as the Nu-Vista is (it uses tubes in the output stage), I can tell that the Denon is far better. Incredible micro-detail and much greater depth in soundstage than in the MF. Twenty years of technological advancement plainly is evident here. Nonetheless, I intend to keep the MF as a back-up.
The sound leans to the warm side ever so slightly, and is highly detailed without being thin or clinical. SACD playback is quite excellent, but it’s with Redbook that this baby shines. The CD sound is hi-res in every sense, and the player certainly brings older CDs from the pleistocine era into the modern world. That may be atrributable to the quad DAC set-up.
Build quality is off the charts ... it’s a heavy beast with a beautiful, gun metal finish. The internals are chock full of high quality parts, so it’s obvious that Denon focused heavily on sound quality. There simply is no empty real estate inside. If I had to nitpick, it would be: (a) no balanced outputs; and (b) lack of an "eject disc" function on the remote. I don’t stream, so the lack of digital inputs is irrelevant to me. This is a purist, old-school design in many ways, and is a statement piece by Denon.
Plainly, the Denon will open up as it breaks in, but wow ... first track out of the box and the sound is awesome. I’m really flabbergasted. I never thought of Denon as high end, but in this player Denon has pulled out all the stops and created a marvelous sounding piece for all of us "old timers." Luddites unite!
