DIRONDO PLAYER™

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• CD player with top-loading professional CD Pro-2M drive mechanism
   

• Ensemble PROCAP Golden Gate™ capacitors
   

• multi-level decoupling and resonance control
   

• reference quality digital/analog converter with upsampling technology
   

• digital phase inversion by remote or panel control
   

• low-jitter digital output
   

• state-of-the-art one-format design
   

• provides CD playback superior to multi-format players

Real values will become more important than ever before, and it is the time now to invest in the access to a whole legacy of music. The potential disappearance of physical media, particularly the CD, and their replacement by virtual means, is no guarantee that the music treasured over the years will become accessible again through a download portal. CD has been around for so long that it makes indeed a good long-term investment to have a dedicated high-performance playback system for the silver discs, especially when it is foreseeable that all-in-one machines with their in-built compromises will be the only ones remaining available. The DIRONDO SONDORO represent a level of quality of ’as good as it gets’ and have found musical acceptance even by dedicated analogue fans.

Ensemble has decided to go exclusively for the medium that has been the main music carrier and will keep an important role for a good many years to come. The idea was to do it so well that the discussion shifts away from questions of format and concentrates on the quality of recording, mastering or pressing.

Every playback medium that rests on a mechanical component sees its overall performance determined by the quality of the mechanics and pick-up as well as the control of disturbing resonances. The DIRONDO have a professional-grade, cast metal frame CD mechanism, which is again mounted into a milled aluminum base serving as a well for the CD to be played. This base rests again on a multilayer, constrained-mode damping block fitted with specifically made buffers absorbing vibrations from above and below.

Each functional section of the DIRONDO is screened off by mechanically damped partitions. The ultra-low- noise power supply mirrors this separation with a dedicated power rail for each section

On an operational level the units have easy to follow functions. At the same time, instead of offering programmes like ’shuffle’ or ’beginning of track’ some often neglected features are brought into play that are important for true reference quality playback.

A feature that will prove indispensable with use is the possibility to invert the digital phase, either by remote or manually. Many recordings – usually the better ones – improve sonically when played back in the same phase as they were recorded.

Access to the well (into which the CD is loaded) is by way of a sliding door, which is level with the hood of the unit. Visually this construction makes the DIRONDO seamlessly integrate into the whole electronics line of Ensemble, sharing with them the same high quality finish, the decoupling feet, and the proprietary RCA connectors.

The command buttons are nice to the touch and give a feel of solidity (vandal proof according to the manufacturer). The display has crisp detail and is not overloaded by information.

The D/A section of the DIRONDO PLAYER automatically transposes the signals coming from the CD into a higher sampling frequency (96 kHz, 24 bit resolution). Now that this so-called upsampling technique has become popular, the distinction that finally makes the quality lies in the way it is implemented. In this, as in all other respects, the DIRONDO PLAYER shows what careful and experienced design, meticulous attention to detail, and high-grade components can achieve.

Together with an integrated amplifier like the Ensemble FUOCO, the DIRONDO PLAYER makes a compact team that takes the listener into a musical experience without apparent limitations.Joined by a pair of Ensemble ONDIVA speakers, the match is true perfection.