Eastsound Cd-e5 Signature Edition

Hi, Now had quotes for both the European and the Special Edition of this player. As the Pound is so strong at the moment and they want to be.

ESound CD-E5 SE CD player

Confirmed expectations...

Product: ESound CD-E5 SE CD player
Manufacturer: EastSound - China
Provided by: East West Audio Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Cost: 1250 euro
Reviewer: Maarten van Casteren - TNT UK
Reviewed: February, 2007

[Italian version]

Introduction

Expectation is a strange thing. I sometimes think I know what acomponent will sound like, just by the way it looks. It is difficult,for example, not to expect that something very big and heavy willsound big too. Especially bass has this strong association with big,solid, like-a-tank build quality. Well, sometimes expectations aremet, even exceeded.

The ESound CD-E5 SE (Signature Edition) is a hefty player by anymeans. It is bigger and heavier than my power amp, and weighs 13 kilos.The casing is made out of substantial slabs of aluminium, the thinnestof which is the top plate, at 3 mm. Do the knuckle test on the side ofthis player and you'll hear a sound, or better the absence of a sound,that will make even high-end loudspeakers jealous. It really feels asif it is made out of solid aluminium. The side and front panels are 13mm (half an inch) thick and the two front corners have extra chunks ofaluminium attached just to make it all look even more substantial. Thebottom plate is steel, and I did notice that the transport sits on anextra metal plinth for enhanced stability and isolation.

And it shows. Press 'open' and the tray rolls out with a soft, almostsubsonic rumble that seems to come from deep within the machine.Nothing is flimsy with this player. All buttons have a nice solidaction that feels very reassuring against the mass of this machine. Italso sits very securely, with all that mass, on 4 nice rubber feet.Feature wise things are fine too, with RCA and optical digital outputsand single ended as well as balanced analogue out. To finish thingsoff, it comes with the most solid and heavy remote control I've everseen. It totally matches the player in build quality and was theobject of jealous looks and admiring touches by visitors.

The manufacturer is East Sound, based in Hong Kong. The man behindthis machine is W.K. Fung, an electronics engineer. The CD E5 is adevelopment of the E3, and the Signature Edition is fine-tuned by MrFung himself, mainly by experimenting with internal cabling, most ofwhich is Analog Research Silver SE.

The player was supplied to my by 'East West Audio' from Nijmegen, theNetherlands. This is a small company that imports and modifies highend audio products. They cover Belgium and Luxemburg too, by the way.Owner Ron Wevers is extremely helpful and enthusiastic about hisproducts. He developed a modified version of this player which heclaims is 'much better'. The current review sample will be modifiedand send to me again for a review of the modification. So, hopefullythere will be a review of that player soon after this.

The Technology

Inside the layout is exemplary: the transport in the middle, all powersupplies are on one side and all digital and analogue circuitry on theother side. Mains is first filtered, then enters a rather big toroidaltransformer and after that a number of separate regulators provide thepower for the different sections of the player. The player uses asingle DAC chip, a Crystal CS4390. That does mean that the balancedoutputs are made from a single ended signal, but that shouldn’t be aproblem. Component quality looks good too, with some Elna Stargetelco's and many Wima film capacitors. Great care has been given toavoiding jitter, and a TCXO clock is used with a sophisticated clockdistribution system.

Sound

I gave the player about 100 hours on repeat before I started listeningto it. It did improve a bit further after that, so it does take somebreaking in. Nevertheless, from the very first moment I startedlistening it immediately became clear that the standout quality ofthis CD player is its bass reproduction. There's a solidity andauthority to bass instruments that I haven't experienced before in mysystem. Bass lines are very easy to follow: no effort involved at all.And it goes deep too. This makes the overall sound on the warm side,but without being overly warm or compromising neutrality. It is astrange thing, actually, so much more bass than before, but withoutdominating the sound. It's just that it used to be booming awaysomewhere in the room, and now it sits firmly in its place. Finallythe bass plays the same role as all the other instruments, nobackground player anymore but just as audible and localised as therest. As a bonus bass is very tuneful and precise too. Not onlyquantity then, but quality too. With the 50's and 60's jazz recordingsI usually listen too it is almost the difference between having bassand 'A bass'. Most other instruments have a lot more impact because ofthis too, and obviously it creates a large soundstage and a realfeeling of physical presence.

All this space and foundation isn't ruined by the rest of thespectrum, by the way. The next thing that catches the ear, after thelow end, is the treble. This is nicely detailed with a minimum ofdigital 'edge'. As it has good extension it does balance the bottomend rather well, producing an even overall tonal presentation. But ithas to be said that the treble is also rather 'polite' and could befound to lack a little bit of 'spark' by people who like that sort ofthing. I prefer my high frequencies to be a bit softer and thereforethink that the ESound player is excellent in this respect. Plenty ofdetail, without pain. Spatially this player is projecting a wide anddeep stage with good focus, but rather more distant than other playersI've had. If you like a very forward sound you might prefer somethingelse, but for my taste the presentation is just about right. Itcertainly has the advantage of never being overly aggressive andlistening fatigue simply doesn't happen.

That fast, powerful bass also makes this player very rhythmic. Thewhole sound is driven forward by that bottom end in a very satisfyingway. Other sources have to rely on a more aggressive sound to grabyour attention or make things swing, but the ESound puts things onsuch a strong foundation that they just move by themselves. It willalso never muddle up complex patterns or dense parts, allowing yourears to hang on to every clue necessary to decode whatever themusicians throw at it.

The middle frequencies are somewhat less ear catching, compared to thefrequency regions either side, and could perhaps even be perceived asslightly understated. They do get an infusion of richness from thelower regions, and detail and focus from the upper spectrum, makingthem sound decent enough. It is just that they have a tiny bit lessimpact than the rest, making voices jump out less than with otherplayers. It can hardly be called a weakness, but the mids do representthe player’s least talented region, perhaps. A consequence of this isalso that centrally located instruments and voices are set back in thesoundstage a bit.

As East West Audio have promised to send me the upgraded version ofthis machine, which is supposed to be better, it seems safe to airanother small point of criticism. The modified machine needs somethingto improve on, after all. The upper frequencies can sometimes sound atad rough, especially with lesser recordings. This leads to someflattening of tone, making sources that are close in space andfrequency merge together from time to time. It also makes the soundfrom the sides of the soundstage be a bit more forward. It doescontrast a little bit with the tunefulness of the lower frequencies.All in all the impression is one of a sound that is build from thefrequency extremes, rather than from the middle.

But it all doesn’t really matter, as this machine brings so much driveand authority to everything you play on it that you can't help butlike it. For me a sound like this is proof that bass is the basis ofreally good sound. Without a solid underpinning like this things justdon't sound the same. And it works with all types of music too. Itenhances rhythm and drive, brings warmth and tonal richness and givesinstruments a real physical presence that cannot be created orsimulated by anything else. An example is Mahler's 5th symphony.Played on the ESound the softer bits at the beginning really get thisbrooding atmosphere of 'menace about to happen' that was alwayslacking before. There's a strong feeling of contained power that willsoon be unleashed upon you, even when the music is actually veryquiet. Another example is piano, which sounds very natural and a goodsize bigger that with my own (modified Micromega Stage 3) player.

The rest of my review system comprised of a Django passive preamp, anElectrocompaniet ECI-2 amp and a pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.8 mk2speakers. And I think you will need a strong amp and a pair offloorstanders like these minimally to bring out the quality of this CDplayer. Use it with a thin sounding amp and a pair of small standmount speakers and you'll miss out on its fantastic bass. Good audiocomponents should always be played at their strengths when combiningwith other units, at least that is my conviction, and this playershould be able to show off its wonderful bottom end.

Conclusion

This really is an excellent CD player, especially for the money. Build quality is glorious. Its bass reproduction is truly impressiveand almost makes you forget that you're listening to a digital source,or even a recording at all. There's a strong feeling of experiencingan actual performance. It is musical above anything else, but withoutsacrificing detail or neutrality. And it works with all types of music too. Just make absolutely sure to combine it with an amp and a pair ofspeakers that do it justice. I cannot wait for the upgraded version,believe me! Highly recommended.