 This is not the first time we are writing about devices from the Japanese company C.E.C.. We have already tested the players TL51XR and the superb TL1N+DX1N. I have also presented a few models in “Audio” so I think I know the one and the other about this company. The test of the last mentioned player showed, that the company can surprise. And I should have been aware, that being consistent all the way down is rewarding… The tested products are a part of the newest ‘53’ series, that encompasses also the TUBE53 tube amplifier, DA53 digital-to-analog converter, the gramophone preamplifier PH53 and the headphone amplifier HD53R ver. 8.0. The three last devices were known for some time and they were the basis for the new products – all have a narrow front panel and deep enclosures. The width is ‘half rack’ similar to the Cyrus. The depth of the C.E.C. products is exceptional, even if we take into account that the electronics has to find place somewhere. Also their weight, especially of the amplifier, lets us know, that we deal with solid devices here, and not with enclosed air. )
Probably the most attractive element for most Readers will be the TL53Z player. And nothing surprising about that, as it employs the famous belt drive – for rotating the disc as well as for moving the laser pick-up unit. As usual we have here a puck, but this one is as big as the CD, heavy and does not have a “head” that would make it easier to pick it up. This makes the disc exchange operation difficult, as you have to take it off together with the CD, but this was probably forced by the height of the drive. But those are not the only elements that make the TL53Z stand out from the crowd. On the back plate we find dip switches that can set different digital filters and oversampling. One allows us to choose oversampling: 32fs – 64fs – 128fs, the second one chooses between the classic filter with a flat frequency response, but with extensive ‘ringing’ before and after the impulse, and a filter than makes the frequency response fall slowly at the higher frequencies, with a flatter slope and better impulse response. The amplifier looks less secret, but we find there more company patents. One of the most important is the DIGM (Digital Intelligent Gain Management) – a high class circuitry regulating the volume. In short it is a discrete version of an integrated resistor ladder. Here the switching of metallized resistors is done by bipolar transistors working in class A and with digital logic. This allows for 66 steps (levels) with a stable input and output resistance of the circuit. The specific design of the DIGM allows for the canal balance to be set in 1dB steps in the +/- 10dB range without additional regulators. Interesting enough, both devices, including the amplifier, are fully balanced. The signal from the RCAs is also balanced immediately after the input and amplified that way. You will also quickly notice, that the amplifier gets hot quickly. 120W is quite a lot of power, but this is related to the way the output stage is working. This is a variety of single-ended class A, with a single transistor for every branch, but aided by additional transistors. This solution is called LEF (Load Effect Free). It allows to keep the same phase for the voltage and current, regardless of the frequency. Like I mentioned, the circuitry gets hot. And the ‘53’ series is not very big, so there is no place to put giant heat sinks in. That is the reason, that the AMP53 has a small fan mounted on the bottom. I think this is a devils device, because despite my big appreciation for the system (see “Sound”) the fan makes noise, and makes quite some vibration, making any kind of anti-vibration platforms or feet obsolete. One more word about the design – I don’t like it. For me there is too much of Chinese style in it – sanded surfaces mixed with scratched ones, it is aluminum, but it does not have the sense of luxury in it. And 10000zl per unit is not cheap, isn’t it? Fortunately the sound stands in for that and even surpasses the expectations. SOUND )
I think that with those elements CEC has finally found the golden middle between analytical and saturated sound. Of course I am not speaking about the top constructions, like the tested last month TL1N+DX1N, because those master it already for a long time. Lower models of this Japanese company, while being splendid within their boundaries, tend to play with the attack forgetting a bit about the ‘connective tissue’. This is not to criticize, because this is just one of the offerings, equally attractive like others, but I was not fully satisfied with it. And, I think, that this is true for both, the players and the amplifiers, but it is easier to exploit the assets of the first, because their stable, precise sound (like in the model TL51XR) is something you expect from a source. In the case of the tested set it is different – for the first time I cannot point to the dominating element, that would impact the reproduced sound. It is also not the case that the devices sound good together, stand for each others weaknesses and for example the strong treble of the player is tamed by the sweet version of the amplifier. No – both CEC devices sound in a similar way and this gives the splendid final effect. Regardless of the aesthetics of the system, it must be said, that this kind of sound is the ticket to hi-end. It is not free of flaws, with a character identifying the brand, but with assets, that must be there for the sound to be described as being of high quality. The CEC sounds with an incredibly focused, precise sound, accompanied in an above average way by an energetic bass. The latter is not hard, it has no loudness, abut it keeps pace and allows the melodic element to evolve in an uncompressed way. Many times one thinks about music as about different elements forgetting, that this is in fact a holistic total, something like a thought, jumping out and never returning in the same form. Those are of course elements, but building something bigger, but their analysis is not a guarantee of reaching the consensus, understand the whole. If the sound of the tested elements would be analyzed in parts then they would seem a bit bright and little “romantic”. Yes, this is true and you should pick the speakers and cables having this in mind (I would suggest Furutech, Oyaide or Wireworld here), but after listening to a few dozen discs it will turn out that this is only a part of a larger project. The preciseness of those devices, their incredible sensitivity for rhythm make every kind of music sound intriguing, there is no need to change discs, nothing annoys or tires. In contrary – we listen to discs discovering the emotional element of the music, without which even the best reproduction is hollow and empty, even hostile. )
I purposely mentioned that all music is treated the same way, because I started with two old discs – Chris Connor Sings Lullabys of Birdland (Bethlehem/Victor Enterteinment, VICJ-61452, K2 HD, CD) and Warne Marsh Quartet Music for Prancing (Mode Records/Muzak, Inc., MZCS-1111, CD), but finished with scrolling through all my collection not really picking any disc but just listening with joy to everything that fell in my hands. Pleasure is the keyword here. Although this is not the absolute top of what can be achieved with digital technology, still in some way, if we accept that way of sounding, it is fully satisfying. I mean – this is the sound, with which you can continue searching further, but there is no pressure to do so, and for many people it can mean the sound for many years. When Connor sang, I went bright. Those are old recordings, from the years 1953-1954, mono, with badly recorded band, but are of the ‘one of a kind’ type due to the brilliant vocal. It is big, full, with a slight peak at upper midrange and treble (old microphones often had a huge peak at 11kHz), underlining the asperity in her voice, but taken as a whole it has incredible magic, especially due to the perfectly captured size of the voice, without enlarging or diminishing it. And CEC showed them exactly like that. It did not soften the mentioned peak, even reminded it a bit, but at the same time gave the vocal a solid base in the form of strong bass. Yes, I know that there is no lower bass, but I am talking about that part, that although inaudible in the female voice, makes its size, that determines if we deal with a squeak or a voice. The Japanese system guessed this dependency immediately, placing Connor near to the listener – exactly there where the near placed microphones were. I mentioned the Marsh disc – it happened by coincidence that I received it from a friend at exactly the same day the system arrived for testing. So the first listening was in the CEC. Although I did not know the recording, I did not have a chance to listen to it on my equipment, I was stroked by the ease the Japanese – electronics and recording – operated with dynamics (yes, the pressing is also Japanese). The disc itself is badly recorded, because this is a transfer from LP (at least I hear it like that), with lots of distortion, etc, but the music compensates for this. Anyway, Marsh’ disc sounds good only when the tonal balance is exactly as it should be and there is plenty of dynamics at disposal. Like in the CEC. I mentioned the inclination of the system to play with lots of energy on the upper midrange and it can also be heard here. It does not translate into brightening, but together with dynamics it gives lots of freedom to the music. It also allows for insight into the recordings – you can immediately hear what is going on. So the new re-edition of the disc Big Science Laurie Anderson (Nonesuch, 79988-2, CD) sounded great, with beautifully saturated bottom octaves and a phenomenally clean treble. The lowest bass was not that controlled, but no amplifier from that price range reaches that frequencies, because I am talking about the really deep bass, and in higher frequencies does not have such discipline. In this aspect the CEC is really outstanding, and really profits from the technologies it developed with the LFE and IGM in the front line. For the first time, I hear from the CEC something, that confirms that a specific construction of the output stage – class A, single-ended – is not only an assault to our need of novelties, but is related to a real improvement of the sound. The way of building the sound, through full breadth, clean timbre, without any brightening and romantics (although mre in the direction of speed rather than warmth) resembled that, what is offered by the brilliant Luxman M-800A – a class A beast, with 60W at 8 and 240W at 2. It is the same ‘school’. It is so, that a month ago, I tested the TUBE53, the tube amplifier of the ‘53’ series (the test will appear in “Audio”) and while I must say that it is a very nice device, it comes nowhere near that what is offered by the AMP53, at least in my opinion. I mentioned Jazz, my beloved Laurie was also discussed, so I’ll just say that discs like the dance Open Your Box Yoko Ono (Astralwerks, ASW 88710, CCD) or the very good, newest disc from Paula Cole Courage (Decca, B0008292-02, CD – recommended!) sounded very good. Both discs were recorded in a “world” manner, with emphasis on listening in many systems and places, not only audiophile ones, but they show what they can on good equipment. Cole’s vocal was close, a bit flat and with slightly underlined sibilants, but – that’s just how it was recorded. The CEC showed it from the better side, close, without the “background” but also without caricatured distortion. )
So the CEC has its character – rather precise than warm, rather dynamic than quiet. It has also a brilliantly drawn stage, in every direction, and splendid bass. The only element that has to be pointed out is a slightly withdrawn part of the midrange, around 600-800Hz, that distances the reproduction a bit. However this element is also depending on the setup and connections we choose. Like I mentioned in the beginning the player has a selectable digital filter – one can choose three oversampling values and two output filters. The next variable is the way the CD and the amplifier get connected – by means of RCA or XLR. The number of combinations is quite high. It must be said, that every combination changes the sound and allows adjusting it to our preferences and system. The smallest differences, a bit surprisingly, are between the RCA and XLR. With some discs like So Much Guitar Wes Montgomery (Riverside/Universal [Japan], UCCO-5103, CD) or East! Pat Martino (Prestige/Mobile Fidelity, UDSACD 1018, SACD/CD) – two giants of the jazz guitar – the differences were on the verge of perception if at all present. If not for the visible movement of the diaphragm by switching (it happens instantaneously, without any muting between the inputs) I would not know that anything has changed. There is a difference, but it relates to elements not on those discs – lower bass and stage depth. It turns out, that with the XLRs the bass is shorter and more coherent, and that the space opens and the far placed virtual sources are better defined. This was nicely audible on the disc Les Douze Noëls RSAMD (LINN Records, CKD 254, CD), where every instrument has its “reflection” in space. But frankly speaking those differences are not like night and day. The timbre of the midrange will decide about the choice of the connection. With the RCA it is more saturated – while the resolution is slightly lower, but in the end it can turn out that this is plain and simple better. In case of oversampling the case is clear for me – the player sounds best with the setting on 128fs. In the lowest setting, 32fs the sound was flat and a bit sharpened to me. With the right setting the voices were deeper and better defined. The same was with the ‘flat-pulse’ switch. Also here the setting ‘pulse’ was much better, because ‘flat’ made the sound flat and boring. DESCRIPTION )
Both devices have a narrow front panel and are very deep. They will not fit on shallow shelves. The whole enclosure is made from aluminum. In the front we have a large, mirror plate, below it there is a blue display. Below it you can find small buttons to control the mechanism and a mechanical power switch. The top of the front panel has a cut-out for the drawer – TL53Z is a top-loader with the drawer operated manually. It has a “window”, so you can look at the turning disc. However we will not see much because the disc is covered by a puck of the same diameter as the disc. This can be done like this, because the shaft of the mechanism is long and narrow, just like in a turntable. This is not the motor shaft, but just a messing bearing that is rotated by a belt coming from a motor – just like in a belt-drive turntable. There is a lot going on the back plate. We have two kinds of analog outputs – XLR and RCA. Both are gold plated and look very solid. Next to them we see the dip switches to select the digital filters. Like I have written a few times before one chooses the oversampling frequency: 32fs, 64fs and 128fs and the second determines the DAC’s impulse reaction. It is a pity, that the settings have no indicators on the front panel. Next we have three digital outputs – we should not forget that the drive section is most important here – optical TOSLINK and electric RCA S/PDIF and XLR AES/EBU. There is also an IEC mains socket. The insides are quite crowded. The circuitry is divided between two PCBs of the same size. One is the power supply – an impulse one, but very sophisticated, with separate power for the audio part and for the drive. On the audio PCB two Burr-Brown D/A converters PCM1792 are visible. The signal is then processed in discrete circuitry prepared by the company CCTech, here with the 1792 symbol, what suggests adjustment to the converter type. The SMD made boards that are plugged vertically into the main PCBs resemble something that was called HDAM by Marantz. Everywhere we see the polypropylene capacitors, also on the output – we have a classic capacitor coupling here and not a DC Servo. From the company materials we learn, that the I/V conversion is made in a circuit called Current-Injection without a feedback loop. The front of the amplifier is very similar to that of the CD, it is also an aluminum plate with small buttons and a mirror LCD display, but this time separated in two parts. One part will display the volume level, balance or heat sink temperature (!), the other the chosen input. In the middle there is a small volume knob. In the back there are solid sockets – three RCA and two XLR and WBT look-alikes speaker terminals. And an IEC socket. It turns out that the device is built “on its back”, similar to tube devices, so to enter it we have to unscrew the bottom plate. The reason for that is the heat sink, the size of the top cover, and glued to it by means of a silicon paste. The enclosure helps in heat dissipation due to that construction. And the inside is closely packed. Just after the inputs selectable by means of relays soldered immediately next to the sockets, we enter vertical PCBs. Two of them are the volume control, further ones are the preamplifier. All are fully balanced, separate for every channel and manufactured in SMD technique. In the preamplifier ICs are visible, but their markings were rubbed out. But most of the inside is taken by the power supply. We have here a giant toroidal transformer, decoupled from the enclosure and with many secondary windings – separate for each power stage, each channel of the preamplifier and logical circuits. Of course there are also separate power supplies for all those elements. It can be seen, that the circuit is well designed and every detail has been taken care of – for example the diodes in the power stage rectifier are decoupled by polypropylene capacitors. The feet of both elements are plastic, with metal elements. The amplifier was accompanied by an ugly system remote, and the CD with a spectacular one, like from a more expensive system, with one flaw only – it did not work…
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