Grant Fidelity Announces a New Reference CD Player Loaded with Tubes

The new Grant Fidelity Reference Tube CD-1000 CD player might be one of the elite choices you could ever make when looking to spend less than $5,000 on a high-end player with looks that could kill. Codenamed the Impression II, this new CD player boasts a promising array of features that will most likely attract a heap of customers. If we were to judge upon the looks alone, the Grant Fidelity Reference Tube CD-1000 would definitely be among the winners: somehow shaped like a butterfly with wide open wings, this player sports a look that's simultaneously delicate and rough, with fluid lines and exquisite accents.

But there is more to this architecture than mere looks: each of the prominent rounded corners houses a cluster of technology so the space in the middle of the case remains free. It is here where the separated CD drive chassis has been placed, in the middle of a shock-absorbing structure which minimizes the vibrations to a minimum.

The Impression II is based on Toshiba components: the servo system comprises TOSHIBA-TA2125AF, TOSHIBA-2157F and TOSHIBA-TC94A14F sub-systems for the best, smooth performance. The audio section sports a high-class completely independent left-right individual channels each with a Burr-Brown PCM1794 DAC and running with 10x OPA2604 / OPA 604 for IV converting and low pass filtering, while the CD drive itself is a Sanyo DA11VZ.

You get a neat array of connection options, including an unbalanced tube output based on EH 6922 , a transistor unbalanced out and a transistor balanced one. Even more, you get digital coaxial, optical, AES/EBU and tube (EL84) headphone outputs at your fingertips. One nifty feature is the defeatable, 3-frequency upsampling system with 44.1 kHz/16bit, 96 kHz/24bit and 192 kHz/24bit settings.

The CD-1000 Impression II also comes with a remote control, but the loading is manual; you get one year parts/labor warranty and 90 days for the tube section. With a 0.001% THD and 95dB signal-to-noise ratio, the Grand Fidelity Impression II is no toy when it comes to weight: 23Kg for its standard brushed aluminium case. A polished steel case is also available as an option – no word on the weight, but it will cost you some extra $380; the aluminium version retails for $3,200.

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