[CES 07] World’s Best CD Player
January 10th, 2007 — By TAS Robert Harley
Spectral SDR-4000 Leaves No Stone Unturned
Jan 10 - I got a brief taste of Spectral’s SDR-4000 Professional CD Processor System, a CD player under development by the brilliant and multitalented Keith Johnson for more than five years. No stone was left unturned in the SDR-4000; the unit incorporates many novel and innovative techniques that address fundamental limitations of conventional designs. Not the least of these is the “long filter,? a custom digital filter that expands on the filter designs created for the HDCD process (of which Johnson is the co-designer), and which takes advantage of today’s high-horsepower digital signal processors.
Despite not being fully dialed-in, the system (all Spectral system driving Keith Johnson’s location-recording monitors) possessed an astonishing level of resolution coupled with a great sense of ease, relaxation, and involvement. The sound was easily the show’s highlight. Watch for more on the SDR-4000 in The Absolute Sound. Price: $17,500.
