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Review: Lindemann D680 CD Player

Category: Digital

I recently purchased through Audiogon a Lindemann D680 CD/HDCD/SACD player that upsamples CD/HDCD and also plays SACDs. This German-made player is truly reference. I compared vinly to regular CDs and am amazed at how closely the Lindemann out of the box gets to vinyl ("Muddy Waters folk singer" -CD and 180 gram vinyl, Oscar Peterson - "We Get Requests"-- CD and vinyl). Red Rose "Live at Sandy's
"SACD, you could hear individual ice cubes clinking in the background at times. On opera and classical, massed voices and strings are clearly articulated with lots of air and space and "hair raising palpability." Extended highs, full, controlled bass. Male and female voices life size and without any hint of distortion, contraction, or emphasis -- just natural with the correct articulation and projection of a live performance. Red Rose "The Art of the Fugue" SACD as reproduced on the Lindemann D680 brought the listener into the entire venue. I listen to pipe organ very Sunday, and the Lindemann is the closest yet to that experience. I have only been listening for a few days! I just wanted to let other music lovers know of this great player.

Associated gear
Pass Labs X-1 preamp
Music Reference RM9MKII-newly retubed
Sota Comos V5, Graham 2.2, Benz Ruby2
HMS Gran Finale Top Match, Nordost Quattro Fil, SPM speaker cables, Accoustic Zen interconnects

Similar products
Sony DVP9000ES, Wadia 830
jdsaudio
sutts
668 posts
 
I agree with Avnut- it would be great to see a side-by-side comparison with other top players. Regarding digital, I owned the Capitole Mk I for about a year and a half. It did some things very well- i.e. a wonderful midrange, but ultimately found transport/dac combo far superior on a number of paramters. The Lindemann may be the new kid on the block, but until I could hear it myself and compare to my current digital setup- Esoteric (Teac) transport/Audionote Dac, it remains just that- a compelling review, but a good one none the less!
tbg
5,263 posts
 
I cannot fully comply with your desired comparison. I have compared the Lindemann playing cds with a Accustic Arts Drive 1 and Zanden 5000 Mk II dac. It is very close contest despite the two divergent philosophies of these two companies. Zanden uses the old 16 bit Philip 1541 chip and no brickwall filter. The Lindemann on cds upsamples to 192 24 bits. The Zanden has smoother and sweeter midrange. The Lindemann has superior bass and much more extended highs. It is quieter and gives a much wider soundstage and more sense that you are in the recording studio.

All of this is for cds. When you put sacds on the Lindemann, there is no question either of the superiority of sacds or that the Lindemann far exceeds the sacd players of the past. It is not just better but eerily real. I have heard many sacd players, including the various Marantz, Sony, and Accuphase units. None even approaches the Lindemann. I bought this unit on the strength of a German review and comments that I heard from people who had heard it in Europe. It was the best decision I have made.
sponte's avatar
sponte
4 posts
 
I just got my Lindemann D680 yesterday, have only had about four hours to listen to it. But it is spectacular. I have replaced the Sony SCD-1, itself a wonderful player, but quite honestly it can't touch the Lindemann. Before the Sony, it was a Meridian 508-24, again a wonderful player but not in the same universe with the Lindemann. The bass extension is as wonderful as I've ever heard from any front end, including vinyl, and the articulation and rhythm of the thing has to be heard to be believed.
Redbook CDs sound like SACD's, SACD's sound just glorious. Aside from my Headroom Blockhead headphone amp, I've never experienced any audio equipment that made it so easy to hear what the composer/conductor/musician was thinking.
As for associated equipment, for what its worth, its a Red Rose Affirmation integrated amp, Revel F-50 speakers, Nottingham Hyperspace turntable with VandenHul Colibri cartridge, HMS Grand Finale speaker cables, Monster HTPS Reference Power Source, Headroom Blockhead headphone amp and Sennheiser 600 Clou cabled headphones.
The most astonishing thing about the Lindemann is the naturalness, the solidity, the ease of its presentation, so different from anything else I've heard. And that's why my Sony SCD-1 is for sale. DJM
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Isolate your analog power supply with either Aurios or Valid Points. Try different powercord for both analog and digital. They make a big difference. The Lindemann on the new Badboy from Neuance is spectacular. Your player will get better for the first three weeks. Great product!
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logenn
91 posts
 
Are still as impressed with the sound quality of your Lindemann compared to vinyl, now that you've lived with it for a few months.

Louis
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