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There are precious few equipment that I've heard that shouts of quality and value for money. Even less, barely a handful in fact, that is both state of the art and superb value at the same time. I will be doing a great disservice to the local audiophile community if I kept mum about this astonishing monster (more like angel, I think…) - SPHINX PROJECT 32 CD PLAYER.
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Contrary to the title, this CD player is made in the Netherlands not Egypt! Caught you there didn't I? The Dutch really impressed the heck out of me this time, there is nothing spared in the build and parts selection for this Egyptian (huh?) mythical beast. You may read more at http://www.sphinxlab.nl/, but hey that's not what this review is about… |
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The first CD I popped in is my all time favourite and reference Holly Cole's Don't Smoke in Bed (I love doing that in hotels, hehehe). The moment she sang the first note of Everything I've Got, I know I must be the luckiest guy on Earth to have bought this CD player. Her flirts and seductions seem directed at me and me only. Her expressions and lip movements were so clear and luscious, the urge to kiss her right now right there was compelling… After playing a dozen other vocal CDs had me conclude: Superbly animated nuances, totally natural timbre, never have I heard in my entire life such inner detail and close emotive feelings anywhere (trust me I've heard many). With the level of detail that would have made top class CD machines sound extremely clinical, the Sphinx does it in unheard of musicality and realism. With a special inner radiance shining out from female vocals, it opens the transparent midrange and above with glitter and palpability. So breathtakingly communicative and close with the most gorgeous mids I've ever heard, including analog sources… Next up are g-strings (guitars) and violin tests. The amazing Antonio Forcione's Acoustic Revenge was selected for the g-string test while Lu Si Qing's Vivaldi gets the nod for violin assessment. What stuns me again was the level of expressive detail and colourful timbric intonations that the Sphinx was capable of delivering with strings. Acoustic Revenge demonstrates the impeccable quietness and low noise floor of the design, allowing full articulation of Antonio Forcione's skills. Lu Si Qing's violin reveals the Sphinx to have an extremely precise and well-articulated micro contrast coupled with an expressive range that seemed limitless. Violins never gotten closer to pulling my heart strings…
Complex orchestral music was presented in such a cool precise manner had me searching for a track that could make the Sphinx break a sweat. No such luck (or bad luck?) at all. It handled everything effortlessly with refinement, allure, and assurance. Macro dynamic swings and transients were simply prodigious. Such richness in tones and accuracy in timing that it had me wondering why bother going to concerts anymore! Playing choral tracks from Turtle Creek Chorale's Psalms (Reference Records) proved to be a shocking experience, with the quietness of the player bringing voices out of thin air with pinpoint accuracy, layer after layer of clear instruments and voices with an ambience that made me drunk with ecstasy. A friend exclaimed that he had never heard the mouths seem like instruments, so clearly imaged and articulated. Soundstage is superlative in terms of layering, depth, width and instrument placement, corner-to-corner and front-to-back, giving my room a good few feet of expansion. Tonality, of course, is first rate albeit with a warm timbre. Clear, silky highs perfectly matching the warm, clean mids cushioned by a deep, fast, solid low end. All in all, a super refined, detailed sound coupled with supreme musicality and relaxation. The beast plays every genre of music superbly. Couldn't possibly ask for more… |
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Let's talk about cars; for X dollars you can get low reliability and high performance or high reliability and low performance. You just can't expect an engine to be both high performance and high reliability with the same amount of money. But in this case, the Sphinx breaks all rules and manages to perform the best at a price that is impossible. A kind of gem I'm sure audiophiles will love, simple and exquisite.
I imported the unit from a dealer in Germany without prior listening. I listened to a friend's recommendation and gone ahead with the deal like a bull. Joe Lee said that I picked up cow's ball (meaning bloody lucky). He nearly jumped out of his chair within minutes and exclaimed that this is the best CD machine he has ever heard! A super value for money deal! There isn't anybody who has heard the player at my place and wasn't dumbstruck. Unfortunately the unit is not available locally, friends who are interested can contact me for an audition and I can help with the ordering. If the Sphinx is a woman, even though it has a lion's body, my wife will have great cause for worry (in fact she's already jealous of the attention the CD player is getting!).
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Metal Case Screened Philips CDM 12.4 transport
