This turntable completely changes the way you think about even the most familiar songs. Its sound in observable horizons can be considered as a standard, a new point of reference of aesthetic coordinates of sound perception. This player is worth listening to only if you own it or plan to become its owner in the near future. Otherwise, you risk never being able to enjoy your music to the fullest.
BOW Technologies ZZ-Eight CD player
FEATURES
The BOW Technologies ZZ-Eight CD player made in Denmark is positioned as a reference quality unit. The company guarantees a level of engineering equal to that of military or scientific production.
To say itās unusual is to say nothing. It is unique, incorporating many original and design solutions. The player is equipped with Paciiās Microsonics HDCD microprocessor and four carefully selected Burr-Brown 1702 digital-to-analog converters. Ultra-short signal circuits and special power supply for analog circuits are used to reduce the interference. The fact that the power supply is really serious is indirectly proved by the weight of this turntable ā 16 kg. Modular design allows for future upgrading with new accessories.
Philips CDM12Pro CD drive with disk rotation stabilizer is used for CD reading. Coaxial audio jacks are made with Teflon insulation.
The large red display characters glow brightly through the thick glass plate on the front panel. The front panel display has four levels of character illumination, including full extinguishment mode, and three modes of playback timing: from the beginning of the track, from the beginning of the disc, and to the end of the disc. The disc is set in the open window on the top panel and pressed by magnetic wheel, which together with the levers on the top panel instead of the usual buttons makes the device similar to a turntable of vinyl records, and similarity increases when the disc starts to rotate. Even the turntableās cylindrical, full-metal console is unusual.
Includes TRENTEMOELER The Last Resort CD.
SOUND
Pop, electronic music. The bass sounds a little more expressive than the top, which does not stick out even in the most technogenic songs, so electronic music in general sounds warm and lulling, but not technical. Music with rich bass that swells with tangible ripples and envelops the room with tactile relief.
An extraordinary amount of information comes even from the mid-bass.
Aftershocks and dips are transmitted transparently and prolonged throughout the range, especially in the tweeter: the cymbal kick lasts and lasts with a resolutely melodic sound. The rattles and percussion in general sound clearly.
The top is not emphasized or highlighted in any way, but, nevertheless, the sound above the middle is heard quite clearly until the last sample. Sometimes the sound is so airy that it brings the illusion of being in a soundstage with endless horizons, in a hall full of light and filled to the brim with music. The electronics on this unit sound totally unreal.
In ambient music special effects like birds tweeting and wind whistling, as well as voices are woven into the sound stream incredibly organically. Very realistically recreated are all the familiar water sounds: babbling brook, crashing sea waves, rumbling waterfall and rustling rain. Unobtrusive listening ambience, mesmerizing sound sets you not to work but to relax.
A riot of elaborate melodic sound effects, accompanied by a killer bass, is such an effective and interesting combination that you donāt even want to stop listening to electronic music for a moment. All of the composerās musical moves and discoveries are beautiful, so even if you donāt like the song as a whole, it sounds at least interesting.
Jazz
. The bass and the middle in jazz compositions are slightly more than the top. Nevertheless, the upper percussion is wonderfully resolved: the cymbal produces a neat, unusually melodic ligature. Even after the weakest stick strokes on the instrumentās disc, the air remains filled with rich, resolved aftershocks for a long time to come.
The cymbal and the xylophone together give an inexpressibly airy sound. The metal in the voices of the instruments sounds delicate throughout, not at all protruding, it accurately emphasizes the texture of the xylophone, cymbals and triangles.
One of the most striking impressions was the highest purity of sound. Where before there was a noticeable background rustle in the pauses, now all that can be heard is a perfect stillness. The instruments sound in such detail that you could hear the sound of the piano deck resonating during the fall of the sound, the details of the strings striking the neck of the double bass, and the texture of the guitar soundboard resonancesā¦.
The sustain on this turntable is unbelievable. Thanks to this feature, the piano playing is impeccable, especially impressed by the neat musical sound of the upper octaves of this instrument. The lowest notes of the double bass sound unusually high in relief. The splendor of the pulse transmission, the torn syncopated music is unusually invigorating.
The music sounds effortless and simple, as if you were listening to real instruments. Wonderfully real timbres that ring out in your mind, you feel as if you are being charged by an invisible source. The charm and beauty of the sound is so great, it literally makes you listen to the music, so some long jazz songs were listened to during the test in its entirety, as if against our plans. Even in a song that seems completely cacophonous at first sight, you discover that there is a lot of beauty and harmony.
For the sake of fairness, though, we canāt help but mention a slight minus. A little bit perplexed by the arrangement of sound sources: for some reason in one composition the chorus was behind the instruments, in another the saxophone was very forward, and almost everywhere the cymbals sound as if from afar.
Rock
. The most prominent range, contrary to expectations, is in the middle, but not the bass, which usually dominates in music of this genre. The guitar doesnāt just sound detailed, the resonances and the texture of its wooden sounding board are detailed, it gives off such a sharp sound that it sounds like a big sheet of silver ringing.
The bass doesnāt dominate for a second, it even sounds delicate, you understand its power, but it is the other thing that grabs your attention. The bass impresses not so much by its power and energy, as by its detail, relief and total absence of attack blurring even in the middle bass. In the low sounds the vibrations came through, which were not even hinted at before. The most frantic thrash metal drums sound incredibly intelligible, as do all the nuances of high-speed bass guitar playing.
Even a loud volume increase does not lead to the expected errors, so the music does not lose comfort and quality.
The classic
. The first thing that catches your eye is the high clarity of the sound. Those moments in concert recordings in which the sound is so quiet that it becomes comparable to background noise, sound unusually clear. This high transparency cuts through the finest, previously unheard sub-layers of sound, with which the symphonic classics are so rich.
Detail, clarity and a huge dynamic range allow you to hear everything in both preludes and climaxes without ever touching the volume knob.
The thunderous, extremely concentrated rolls of the big drums, the most expansive brass parts and the over-the-top flight of the strings simply make you dumbfounded when listening to MUSIC. A stream of unimportant thoughts in the head turns off at all, the noble sound tunes and inspires.
Remote control is very unusual shape
MEASUREMENTS
The bass roll-off starts at 40-50 Hz -0,1 dB at 20 Hz , the treble roll-off starts at 7-8 kHz -0,1 dB at 20 kHz . THD at 1kHz equals 0.005%. Second harmonics are fairly uniform and contribute the most to THD. Minimal 0,001% and approximately equal contributions are made by the third and the sum of the highest odd harmonics. The sum of the highest odd harmonics is the least equal, it gives the second largest contribution to the THD in the bass and middle.
The turntableās terminal panel is very concise
Price: the average price in New York is about 470 000 roubles.
Can you provide any insights on the technical specifications of the BOW Technologies ZZ-Eight CD player which contribute to its exceptional clarity?