Grundig Fine Arts CD Player 7/10 - Date Posted 28/08/2002

This is now quite an old machine, which you'll find in most shops under clearence, whilst the new Fine Arts range replaces it. The CD player is good, but with age I've noticed it has begun to skip occasionally. In the picture above you can see the CD player as part of the full Fine Arts system. This is no bad thing, maybe it's a reminder to tell me to clean it! The sound quality is what you'd expect from Grundig, clear and crisp. However, the dynamic range is not quite as impressive as the B&O offering also reviewed on the website.

It does have a coaxial output, which might be of use to minidisc users. Also it has headphone out and the remote control can be used to control all other Grundig Fine Arts separates. Additional features include a display off button and track programming. Some people believe that the circuity used in the display interferes with the general electronics of the CD player. I have to say, enabling the display or disabling, does not seem to make any difference at all! Also recently the CD player's tray has stopped working. Yes it is old, but I have hardly used the CD player, perhaps I need to put it down to age!

The other obvious advantage of having the coaxial output, is that it enables you to bypass the internal DAC, so you could for example use one on your AV receiver. Certainly, I found this resulted in a significantly brighter sound, since most AV receiver's DACs (although not as good as CD players around now) are better than those found in some ancient CD players.

A great purchase now, especially because of the new model.