C.E.C. TL5

C.E.C. TL5

Belt-drive high-end CD transport

When you specialize in a single product category, it often requires being a bit crazy to stand out – and to create a product with that extra dimension of sound quality compared to mass-produced competitors. And yes, the people behind CEC are a little off their rockers, because who else would equip a CD transport with a belt-drive – like a turntable? What’s going on here?

Well, for starters, CEC actually began as a turntable company in the early 1990s, but over time they moved entirely into the development and production of CD players and CD transports. They discovered that the micro-vibrations generated by the motor are minimized through the use of a belt-drive. This is partly because a direct-drive CD player requires a heavier motor, and its vibrations and electromagnetic radiation interfere with the playback of the CD. Since their entry into the CD player market, CEC has been known for producing some of the very best drives in the category – and we are talking about the very best of the best. Combined with an almost savant-like approach to creating a robust chassis, completely noise-free power supplies using the finest components, and excellent analog circuits, we get the picture of a company that doesn’t just make CD players – they live CD players.

The sound is, for lack of a better word, analog in character, with an immediacy and airiness that one rarely associates with digital media. The TL5 manages to “release” the sound so it expresses itself freely and openly in the room – all with impressive detail and a buttery-smooth midrange. We would almost go so far as to say that CEC seems to have discovered something on CDs we didn’t think the medium contained.

The C.E.C. TL5 is the perfect match with the DA5 DAC.