Yamaha CD-S1000 review

Big, bold and to many ears we suspect beautiful, it’s very deserving of some serious consideration Tested at £783.00

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

Big, bold and to many ears we suspect beautiful, it’s very deserving of some serious consideration

Pros

  • +

    Style and solidity of build

  • +

    excellent engineering

  • +

    powerful yet sweet sound

Cons

  • -

    Bettered by some for sheer impact

  • -

    not without competition at this level

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

Yamaha clearly sees a stereo future for Super Audio CD – this is one of two new audio-only two-channel SACD/CD players from the company. Beautifully screwed together using substantial aluminium panels, it's a classy-looking piece of kit.

It also draws heavily on the CD-S2000 player, which sells for £200 more, sharing the high-quality differential digital-to-analogue conversion for rejection of noise and interference, and basically being of a dual mono design. The silent diecast aluminium loader mechanism is also present.

All that's really missing is the CD-2000's balanced output provision – here you get high-quality RCA phonos, plus a choice of optical or electrical digital output.

It has an attractive way with music
There's even a Pure Audio switch, which switches off the display and digital outputs, thus subtly reducing the noise floor, and giving a cleaner sound.

As well as being a delight to use, the player has an attractive way with music. While the CD-S1000 isn't the hardest-hitting player, it'll win over many listeners with its combination of weight and scale.

Bass-lines have excellent extension, and orchestral recordings just the right sense of there being a big band before you, and what little it gives away in top-end openness, it more than recovers with its sweet midband.

As an alternative to players some may find brash or fatiguing, it's well worth very serious consideration.

What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.

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