Carat C57 CD-player

This player is attractive by its design and price. The French player looks very stylish and extraordinary - the front panel of Carat C57 is made of a thick solid plate of organic glass and sparkles with aluminum buttons. There is no usual display window on the player's facade - an indication of the track number and playback time is displayed after switching on directly above the disc loading slot.

Whenever you see a beautiful and at the same time relatively inexpensive device, doubts arise about the quality of the filling. But C57 has the full order with this too. The power source is assembled on a toroidal transformer. The audio path is also built without visible signs of savings - it contains Burr-Brown PCM1796 24-bit HDCD converters and Burr-Brown OPA2134 low-noise amplifiers, the signal from which is fed to the gold-plated RCA connectors. A digital coaxial output for an external converter is also provided.

With its sound, Carat C57 immediately creates a festive atmosphere. Percussion sounds very expressive - the attack is incomparable, the after-sounds have a distinct rich relief. The middle also captivates with its harmonic wealth. Old hard rock is played quite adequately - a little hastily and even albeit not quite clean, but with the proper drive. Symphonic music captivates the listener too - the player copes easily with large scales and fundamental forms, it clearly separates plans and differs by precise localization. When playing quiet piano pieces and free improvisational jazz programs, the player sometimes lacks lyricism and accuracy. It tries to sound subtle and gentle, masterfully extracts details and gives out a lot of air, but the articulation style stays straightforward.

But in general, the player has excellent dynamics in the entire range and, according to this criterion, it, perhaps, can be compared even with models designed to play SACD and DVD-Audio.