2. member-reviews
  3. 1109374176

Review: Denon APl 3910 CD Player

Category: Digital

Musical tastes : Patricia Barber , Deep Forest , Sting , Banco de Gaia , Seal , Steely Dan and anything from the FIM label . Recordings I use for testing are Chesky s Ultimate Demonstration Disc , Chesky s Women of Song , Patricia Barbers Modern Cool , Dean Peer s Its All Good , Diana Krall Love Scenes and all Burrmester discs . Most important aspect of sound reproduction to me is transparency , timbral accuracy and soundstaging properties. Turn offs are a bass heavy balance. This unit has been with me for 3 months. It replaced a Bat Vk D5 SE and marantz SA 1 . The sound changed by becoming more focused with a much larger soundstage .The players within a given ensemble seperated dramatically and it was much easier to look into the soundfield and place the space between the instruments. A favorite disc for this test is Deep Forest s "Music Detected". Each track is brilliantly recorded and is a fantastic disc for evaluating spacial characteristics of your speakers and how they react within your system . With the Denon , the sound wrapped around both sides of the room and enveloped me in a faux surround sound enviroment that no other player in my system had done. It was deeper as well as wider than any player I have ever auditioned .The Sacd version of Diana Krall "Love Scenes" is breathtaking in its imaging properties and the Denon was spot on . The acoustical envelope was clearer and more holographic with an extended top octave which added immediacy and air to percussive instruments and cymbols.A good example is Johnny Frigos "I Love Paris ". Stregnths were an obviously huge soundstage and quick midbass percussive attack. The arrangement is fast and taunt and the Denon seemed to place acoustical air around the musicians. It comes alive on the Denon. Lower bass was extended deeper and discs like the DVD-A version of Blue Man Groups " Audio " showcase the stregnths of the Denon by delivering a far superior percussive assault than the Bat , Marantz Sa 1 or the Meridian G 98 . Female vocals became natural and engaging. Rebecca Pidgeon s famous " Spanish Harlem " was so lifelike I felt like it was the first time I had heard the track. Instrumental " character " was better defined as cymbals became more easily deleniated from one another within a given song. Dean Peers " Its All Good" has a wealth of cymbal diversity on it and the decay and individual caracter of the various unique cymbals used are beautifully recreated through Alex Peychevs Denon 3910. I am no relation to nor affiliated to Alex or APl Hi Fi . I have also heard no better player regardless of price.
brainwater
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,551 posts
 
Brainwater,
I'm really glad you mentioned this about the break-in of the unit. My wife and I listened to the APL 3910 last week at Alex's house, and found it to be perfect for us in every way but one. It was not quite as engaging as some players that we have heard, despite the fact that it seemed to handle every aspect of the music with aplomb. I chalked it up to one of several things: the Dynaudio speakers--which I find to be somewhat analytical--the hybrid amp, or possibly the fact that the player was not even 5 hours old. Based upon your comments, it was likely the newness of the player that was the culprit. I'm sorry we did not get to hear one with more hours on it. We will definitely keep your comments in mind as we consider our upgrade options.
Thank you again,
Howard
Post removed 
Ag insider logo xs@2x
musicfirst
40 posts
 
Best Player you've heard regardless of price? Care to share what units that list includes? Thanks

Kerry
brainwater OP
520 posts
 
Kerry , I was commenting on any player I had owned and thoroughly tested in my systems. . I should have been more clear . My apologies and good point. Here goes : Bat vkd 5 se , Classe cdp 1 , Marantz sa 1 , Cal 2500 , Meridian g 98 . Thanks for helping me clarify a broad sweeping ststement.
peepoy2
23 posts
 
Greetings Brent,

I am fortunate to receive my APL 3910 before the dreaded price increase. I love the sound right out of the box with fantastic detail, frequency extension and left-to-right soundstaging. I am at 30 hours and noted some congestion, some high frequency roll-off and the bass became mushy. The sound gravitated toward the midrange and is a little bit brittle to my ears. I am not sure if this is part of the break-in process since most threads indicate atleast 300 hours to fully appreciate the player's sonic virtues.

Can you trace back your break-in experience with the Denon as far as what I am to expect during the subsequent playback hours. Will the soundstage get deeper as well?

BTW, you have a SMOKIN' system for 2-channel and HT as well.

Thanks and best regards.
More to discover