SOUNDBOXES IX: TWO ‘BOXY’ VALVE CD PLAYERS CONTRASTED – THE SONIC FRONTIERS SFCD-1 AND SHANLING CD3.1

Recently I had the opportunity to acquire two CD players which I had either read about and not heard, or had never been recommended simply because it was not promoted by local Hi Fi circles and shops. What inspired me to twin their reviews was their shape – both resembled rectangular warehouses and sported what in architectural parlance would be termed an industrial fashion to their exterior. As it so happened, both were valve-facilitated disc spinners. What was also deeply impressive was the fact that their performance proved that the Compact Disc would persist in presenting music with a quality that can rival the Vinyl Revival, and most certainly, the digital music downloads.

STEREOPHILE MAGAZINE has extensively reviewed the Canadian made Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1 in regard to its technical aspects, so I will skip all of that in this post. You can read the review of the SFCD-1 here: https://www.stereophile.com/content/sonic-frontiers-sfcd-1-cd-player-specifications#zv5R6TdcqpJ8uFcZ.99. The magazine also described its technical features as follows: CD player with HDCD decoding and tube output stage. Tube complement: 6922 (x2). Outputs: Two 6922 single-ended on RCA jacks, balanced on XLR jacks. D/A conversion: UltraAnalog D20400A. Transport mechanism: Philips CDM 12.4. Frequency response: 0.5Hz–20kHz ±0.3dB. S/N ratio: >107dB (A-weighted). Channel Separation: >100dB, 20Hz–20kHz. THD: <0.05%, 20Hz–20kHz. Intrinsic jitter: <8ps, DC–40kHz with any music signal.
Dimensions: 19" W by 4" H by 12" D. Weight: 27 lbs unpacked.

The fact that the SFCD-1 touted itself as a HDCD-capable player was a throwback to the late 1990s and early 2000s. Indeed, according to the STEREOPHILE review, production of the player was terminated in 2005. Thus, reviewing it in early 2018 allowed some ‘test of time’ to elapse. I was unimpressed by the front fascia. The combination of silver trimmings set against a black front resembled potentially the SONYs, PHILIPses and MARANTZes. The digital display was however simple yet effective, although the unit I acquired and photographed here showed signs of digital ageing – the zeroes and twos missed a stroke each, so did the alphabet ‘n’ – the sound blew me away.

There was an immediate and inviting transparency about every piece. I tried a budget remaster of Nat King Cole’s greatest hits – indeed a disc pressed in Portugal in the mid-1980s – and the results were impressive – particularly in the reproduction of Nat’s nasally semi-baritone and the revelation of detail in the choruses Nat’s arrangers set up on songs like ‘When You’re Smiling’ and ‘Darling Je Vous A’ime Beaucoup’. Nat’s version of ‘Sweet Lorraine’ boasted an intimacy to his piano playing that the SFCD-1 was good at picking out. Switch to saxaphone solos of the likes of Stan Getz and Ben Webster, the SFCD-1 did not disappoint either, placing the soloists precisely where they stood in the studio. The Sax oozed with a deep feeling of soul in the breathing of the musicians. What about strings? The Mantovanis and Frank Chacksfield types revealed their analogue limitations a short time into their instrumentals. One could ‘sense’ the resonance of the violins being played but the limitations of the original LPs were also glaringly evident. Switch back to pop and soul of the likes of Earth, Wind and Fire and Aretha Franklin and you feel the awe coming back. The newer the recording, and especially the HDCD ones, the more brilliantly the SFCD-1 performed. The two 6922 NOS tubes that came with the player gave off a very consistent orange glow and sounded run in, but that analogue sound was not quite exhibited even after I paired it with a Sansui AU-999 integrated amplifier. That said, the SFCD-1 worked very well warming the 6922 valves in a blink of an eye unlike the Shanling which took nearly 10 seconds to warm up.

           The Shanling CD3.1 looked every bit like a veritable warehouse with no windows, and with only roof access provided ‘James Bond style’ with an almost silent swoosh of the polished aluminium cover sheltering the disc compartment. The latter was totally metallic in look and feel with two discrete depressions where one’s fingers were meant to lower the disc into the play slot before placing the puck on top of the disc to clamp it for stability. Press close on the eject button and the aluminium sliding door hides the disc completely. At the same time, the closure of the disc compartment draws your attention to another discreet feature behind the disc compartment – the grilled cover revealing the two EH 6H30 Valves aglow and producing a palpable amount of heat even before play is engaged. Apart from the blue digits on the display, a barely audible click and whirr coming from the disc compartment signals the start of sound pleasure. I suppose that after living with such a nondescript aluminium box of a CD player, one conveniently forgets about its bizarre, yet bland, physical appearances and simply concentrates on the music.

 The specifications of the Shanling CD3.1 are here, referenced from the website www.audioemotion.co.uk:

Drive:  SANYO HD870 laser head with Philips SAA7824 servo system
DAC:	BB PCM1704 *2
Unbalanced output level:	2.3V
Balanced output level:	4.6V
Frequency response:	20 Hz - 20 kHz (0.5dB)
Signal to Noise Ratio:	>107dB (RCA), >115dB (XLR)
THD+N:	<0.02% (RCA), <0.002% (XLR)
Power consumption:	<60W
Dimension:	460mm x 403mm x 132mm
Weight:	12.7kg

• All-in-one aluminium upper cover plate with side panel; CD module being installed on the 4.9mm thick upper cover plate for ideal anti-vibration, therefore enhancing the precision of the servo system.
• 2 BB PCM1704 for D/A converting and a SM5847 for digital filtering
• 4 top-class OPA627 OPAMP
• Burr Brown SRC4193 for upsampling
• 2 AD847 and 2 EH 6H30 tube for buffered output
• Accepts 24bit /96KHz USB digital signal

          The music was rhythmic, sweet in the midrange, and depending on your amplifier, bass was comfortingly controlled in the right dosage. I played the same selections used for the SFCD-1 on the CD3.1 and the results were a tad superior. Particularly older, remastered recordings were presented with an immediacy that the SFCD-1 lacked. The pairing with the Sansui AU-999 was both fitting and sublime. It brought out the analogue best in each other. Nat King Cole in particular was singing a touch more intimately with a velvety quality only your ears could viscerally embrace. I am not jesting here! Pick up any mediocre remaster and test the CD3.1 and you’ll find your jaw dropping in surprise how advanced the Shanling is, and endearing too. Put on the Mantovanis and Frank Chacksfields, and you’ll hear the analogue glory of the original studio sessions brought to life in front of you. Stan Getz and Ben Webster sound simply evergreen, with a soul quality akin to the SFCD-1. If recorded music had to have a virtual pulse to feel in the non-tactile senses, to satisfy the listener fully, the Shanling wins this contest hands down despite the industrial warehouse look of the player. That said, the CD3.1 can occasionally sound harsh in the upper ranges if one uses high end interconnects coupled to high end power cables. I resolved this issue by keeping the high end interconnects (i.e. in my test, the Crystal Cable Micro non-Diamond interconnects) while using a stock power cord. Amazingly the stock power cord did not introduce any audible noise into the music reproduction. This was probably controlled by the Gigawatt power distributor used in this test.

 

          The SFCD-1 is nonetheless not to be derided. It has its place in the evolution of the CD player. It did popularize the idea of discrete power supplies, shielding of the output channels, and the attention to the careful heat dissipating placement of the valves. But if you listen mostly to music produced after 1982 when the digital revolution happened, the SFCD-1 is more than adequate. But if you’ll need an all-rounder to interpret the giants of jazz from the 1950s and 1960s, do not hesitate to acquire the Shanling CD3.1 despite its enigmatic industrial looks!

Accompanying test equipment: SANSUI AU-999 integrated amplifier, Crystal Cable Reference Diamond speaker cables, Crystal Cable Micro (non-Diamond) interconnects, stock power cords alternating with SILTECH SPX-800 power cord, GIGAWATT PF2 Power Distributor.

ALAN   

February 2018