Saturday, August 1, 2020

JVC CD Players from the Thrift Store




Since my last CD player upload, I've acquired these three JVC CD players. It is stacked from the bottom to the top sonically according to yours truly. 😎

JVC XL-Z411 


I bought this primarily for the coaxial digital output since the price was right.


Dutch Audio Classics listed the DAC chip as a Panasonic MASH MN6623BM, but this unit sports a MN6471M bitstream DAC chip. Early bitstream sound with no nasties but also more hash than music. Not my cup of tea. 😏 


It’s a very nice CD transport though!

JVC XL-V75


If it's meant to be, it'll happen...I've been looking for this chip inside Fisher badged Sanyo CDPs only to land one in a JVC. Best of all, it only cost me a dollar!    


The Sanyo LC7881 DAC chip gives the Philips TDA1543 a run for the money. 


 If forced to split hairs, this CD player offers slightly better resolution and extension in the frequency extremes than the TDA1543 DAC'ed Magnavox CDB 492/CD2000 I reviewed here.


JVC XL-Z444


This unit shares the same Optima 4s transport as its bitstream chip'd brethren above. In case you're not a fan of the Burr-Brown family of multi-bit DAC chips, you can use it as a CD transport since it has digital coax output.


Not as warm and analog sounding to my ears than a TDA1541 equipped Magnavox/Philips or Sony but this Burr-Brown PCM56P chip'd player still gets the music right just like the older Shure SV40 I reviewed here. I will not argue with those who believe it's more extended at the frequency extremes. However, I'd argue back that the midrange of TDA1541 CDPs sound more life-like.



Happy listening and hunting!





5 comments:

  1. Have you had the chance to hear a 1010 or a 1050? I have owned a 1010 for over 20 yrs now and I love it. Very analog. Cheers mate, I love reading your stories.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words!

      The XL-Z1010 is considered a classic by Burr-Brown aficionados. They’re not easy to find nowadays.

      I’m glad you have one. Enjoy! 👍🏻

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    2. Definitely keep an eye out for one, its a good sounding player.

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  2. The MN6571M dac chip is one of the most natural and analog sounding dacs ever. The XL-Z411 is a gem of a player, I replaced my Resolution audio opus 21 with4 BB1704K dacs in favor for the XL-Z411. The hash you heard might be from expired capacitors.......Change the output capacitors to some warm poly film type and the player sounds awsome. I have a few 1541A players and dacs and they all sound clanky compared to the XL-Z411, I bought 4 of these players just to be sure I never run out.

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    1. Everything in this blog are merely reflections of my taste. Since listening pleasure supersedes that, I'm glad you're enjoying your CDs via XL-Z411!

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