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W

hat makes CEC dif-

ferent from most other

makers of Compact

Disc players? It builds

its own transport. A few large companies

do it too, and then sell them to others.

What large companies? If you guessed

Sony you’re wrong. Sony no longer

makes CD transports, and its dropping

interest in Red Book Compact Disc play-

ers could turn into an epidemic.

Making a custom transport is expen-

sive, and CEC, which is a small com-

pany in Japan, couldn’t swing using its

celebrated belt-driven transport on this

economy player.

The CD-3300R is a solid unit, though

as you might expect it is quite light. The

very dim screen looks like standard Phil-

ips issue. Though the transport is almost

certainly a Philips, it has been made to

behave better than on many players:

the drawer slides in and out smoothly,

instead of jerking violently, as it does

on too many players. It’s a small detail,

but it makes the experience of using the

player a more pleasant one.

At the rear are somewhat mediocre

RCA output jacks, plus XLR balanced

outputs (see our next review). The

included remote control is the same one

included with other CEC products, and

can control a CEC amplifier as well.

An unexpected bonus is the headphone

jack, which actually comes with its own

volume control. It sounds reasonably

good, too.

We began the listening session in our

Alpha room with a wind band record-

ing we have used before, and which is a

challenge for the entire system: Norman

Dello Joio’s Fantasies on a Theme by

Haydn (Klavier K11138). It opens with a

heartstopping tympani solo, with a lot of

brass, woodwinds and minor percussion

in a large space.

The first surprise was that, despite

our apprehensions, the instruments

didn’t all run together. As for the tym-

pani it had surprising impact, though

we heard its resonance more than the

actual sound of the mallet striking the

membrane, as though our speakers were

not quite as tightly damped. There was

only a little less weight to the full band,

without the thin sound you might expect

from a player of this price. There was a

nice “snap” to the smaller percussion

instruments, but without exaggeration.

The recording’s prodigious depth

was by no means absent. “It’s rather more

‘standard’ depth,” said Albert, “and it

doesn’t spread out in every direction, as

it does with our reference.”

The space was also not quite as vast

with our choral recording, Now the Green

Blade Riseth (Proprius PRCD9093), but it

was better than we’ve heard it with cer-

tain much more expensive players. The

solo flute in the opening was a little soft,

“but better that than shrill,” commented

Gerard. Even so, the counterpoint

between flute and singers was a delight.

Only a touch of graininess was added

to the voices of both the men and the

women. The plucked bass, which marks

the rhythm, was solid and effective. The

crescendo by the sopranos, which comes

at the end of the first piece, often makes

us wince, but not this time.

We should add that this recording,

at its best, seems to flow so naturally

that you would think no system could

possibly get it wrong. We know better,

and all three of us gave the CEC good

marks.

You probably know all too well that

many digital players have problems with

female voices, and we had two of them

lined up.

The first selection was Pauline

Viardot-Garcia’s Haï Luli, sung by

soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian (Analekta

AN 2 9903). This delightful art song

features an exceptional soprano voice,

recorded in a palpably large space, with

piano accompaniment that verges on the

telepathic. We love listening to it.

CEC CD-3300R Player

Brand/model: CEC CD3300R

Price: C$790/US$690

Size (WDH): 43.5 x 29.8 x 10 cm

Most liked: Good performance over a

wide range, no annoying artifacts

Least liked: Some blurring of low

notes

Verdict: So it can be done at this price

Summing it up…

This article was reprinted with permission from UHF Magazine No.77

[phone] www.uhfmag.com

42 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine

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The CEC did it justice. The sense of

space was reduced, and it was certainly

less precise, but Bayrakdarian’s fine voice

remained clear, sensitive and beautiful.

Some of the words were actually easier

to hear with the CEC. “I think that what

we lose in smoothness we gain in clarity

and definition,” said Albert, “but at the

same time the top end isn’t harsh.”

We ended with another favorite,

Margie Gibson’s You Keep Coming Back

Like a Song (from Say It With Music, Shef-

field CD-36). This exceptional recording

can fall apart with the wrong player…but

it didn’t.

This is a song whose emotional

impact depends not on the normal vocal

pyrotechnics, such as powerful, long-

held notes, but on small inflections, on

modulations from one note to another, to

effects that don’t sound like sonic effects.

Of course those effects are easily lost.

And because Gibson sang quite close

to the microphones, other effects, such

as sibilance, can be exaggerated to the

point where all you can focus on is her

“s” sounds.

Which didn’t happen. “There’s noth-

ing that calls attention to itself,” said

Albert approvingly, “and certainly noth-

ing that comes out and annoys you.” On

the other side of the coin, Gibson’s voice

remained expressive, with Irving Berlin’s

lyrics always limpid. The

presence was impressive,

and the timbres of the

accompanying instru-

ments — piano, cello and

bass — seemed right. The

stereo image was very

good, and the depth (never

that deep, because this is

not a purist recording) was

at least reasonable.

A perfect performance?

Well you can hardly expect

that. Some of the warmth

and texture was missing.

“It lacks a certain je ne sais

quoi,” suggested Gerard,

“but it’s gorgeous all the

same.”

We ran our usual suite of tests on

the CEC, and came up with encourag-

ing results. Jitter was very low, though

it increased noticeably when we asked

the CEC to play a deliberately damaged

track (one with a 0.1 mm laser cut). It

took a 2.5 mm cut, however, before

playback became intermittent, with

occasional noise bursts.

The 100 Hz square wave (top image

above) showed a small amount of over-

shoot, and quickly damped at that. The

top is considerably tilted, however, indi-

cating some rolloff at high frequencies.

The low-level sine wave (60 dB below

full level, also shown on this page) was

reasonably good, though with some

noise contamination.

We are pleased with what we heard

from this player, especially considering

its price. We know how many audiophiles

are shopping in this range, or would like

to shop in this range. They can go and

listen to this player with some confidence

that they will find it interesting.

CEC makes a matching amplifier,

which we also tried. Read on to find out

what we thought.

Listening to what is a player within

reach of all budgets, I recognized — not

without surprise — the qualities audio-

philes look for. There’s a good image, a

hospitable spaciousness, and a level of def-

inition that brings home a host of ravishing

details: inflections, modulations and (last

but not least) words you can understand.

It was with delight that I let myself be

moved by the unique sound of James Ehnes’

violin, the expressiveness of a warm cello, a

solid bass, a clean piano, fine counterpoints,

and percussive effects that bring pleasure

when you least expect it. I was surprised to

hear no distortion even with a full orches-

tra, with its tons of notes and different pre-

cise timbres. Listen to them: strings, wood-

winds, piano, tympani, cymbals, all within

a superb dynamic envelope. The rhythm?

Always solid, with good impact too.

I usually pay little attention to the price

of a product, but in this case I can hardly

do otherwise. What a great way to launch a

new sound system!

—Reine Lessard

So it wasn’t just because of the excellent

transport, I thought. Remembering that

CEC did establish its reputation with its

famous belt transport I was curious to hear

what it could do with a regular one. I found

it remarkable.

Now you don’t have to take your very

first steps into the audiophile world by sit-

ting in the last row of the balcony. With

this player you can have access to the best

seats on the balcony. You won’t be in the

tenth row from the stage, mind you, but

you’ll come to the concert more often.

Music will also speak to you intimately

and you’ll take more time to just listen and

enjoy. You’ll also have that unmistakable

desire to start building a CD collection…

and some coin left over to do it.

—Albert Simon

In a world where more and more play-

ers even close to a reasonable price sound

alike (sort of grey and mushy), it’s great to

be able, once again, to recommend an in-

expensive CD player.

Oh, I know most people give the word

“inexpensive” a somewhat more restricted

meaning, but audiophiles who write us to

ask about a “good” player they might be

able to afford mostly don’t want to hear

about price tags with four digits, and even

less with five digits.

I can recommend this CEC with a

clear conscience. It gets the basics right,

and you’d be surprised how few players can

manage that.

—Gerard Rejskind

CROSSTALK

ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 43

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ecognize it? It looks a lot like

the CEC 5300 we reviewed

in UHF No. 75. The controls

and creature comforts are

similar, but the claimed power is slightly

lower: 75 watts per channel instead of

100. It still operates in class A, which

explains the presence of the startlingly

large heat sink sticking out the back. And

the heat sink’s not just for show…don’t

let the cat back there!

We were pleased to see that the rear

binding posts were of quite good quality,

a contrast to the hideous posts on the

5300. We’re told future 5300’s will be

getting the new posts too.

This is not the usual full-blown test

of the amplifier. Rather, we added it to

the player once the session was over,

substituting it for our reference amplifier

and preamplifier, and listened to two of

our CDs again.

Since we had just listened to the

Margie Gibson song, we started the

session with it. We liked what we heard,

though we found it hard to agree on

details. Albert thought both voice and

piano were warmer with this amplifier,

and Gerard thought the amplifier was

“rounding off the sharp edges, possibly

a good thing.” Reine found that Gibson’s

voice hardened up somewhat when she

sang louder, though the song remained

moving. Details aside, however, we

thought the two CEC products seemed

to be a serendipitous match.

We expected that the Dello Joio piece,

with its powerful percussion and incred-

ibly dense orchestral structure, would be

a tough test for what is, after all, a small

amplifier, and the solidity of the bass

surprised us, as did the dynamics. The

tympani was not as overwhelming as

with our own amplifier, but it remained

very good, and the detailed articulation

of the woodwinds and smaller percussion

allowed good separation of timbres. In

short, we liked it.

The distributor had also lent us an

Actinote balanced cable, and asked that

we try the pair in balanced mode. We

did.

And we were glad we had. The

bottom got a promotion (Reine’s words),

with more body and less of a “hollow”

sound. The cymbals were especially

clear, the brass nice and brash. The

woodwinds remained a little hard, but

not disturbingly so.

On the Gibson song, the differences,

if differences there were, could be found

at the bottom end: in the cello and bass

especially. Albert found the overall

sound to be richer and more resonant

than with an unbalanced connection.

“Buy the three products,” suggested

Reine. “Don’t waste time dickering.”

We ran instrument tests on the 3300,

with some caution. You may recall that

CEC amps protect against overload by

turning down their volume controls,

a measure that doesn’t work if you are

so unwise as to keep your hand on the

volume knob!

And doing power tests was not easy

even so, because unless we increased

volume slowly, the 3300 kept dipping

its volume. The result was that the

measured output power looked nothing

like the claimed power. We couldn’t get

more than 39 watts, with both channels

driven, over most of the range, and

(curiously) a slightly higher 41 watts at

20 kHz. Low-level performance, on the

other hand, was excellent.

Crosstalk between adjacent inputs

was very low: -79 dB at 1 kHz, rising to

a still excellent -63 dB at 10 kHz, and

unreadable at 20 Hz.

This CEC amplifier is not without its

quirks, but it sounds very good, and it is

an interesting match for the CD player

of the same series.

Which left us talking about the

wisdom of spending what is com-

paratively a large amount of money on

a balanced cable (C$590 or US$540 for

the current version of the Actinote).

“It comes to maybe $400 more than an

ordinary cable,” said Albert. “If the price

of the CD player and the amplifier was

each boosted by $200, wouldn’t you still

be happy?

CEC AMP-3300R

Brand/model: CEC AMP-3300R

Price: C$950/US$830

Size (WDH): 43.5 x 32.8 x 10 cm,

including rear heat sink

Claimed power: 75 watts/channel

Most liked: Excellent body, very good

clarity

Least liked: Overenthusiastic protec-

tion circuit

Verdict: Plan the wedding!

Summing it up…

44 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine