In the last issue (17) I reviewed the very impressive Creek 5350SE integrated amplifier. As I said then this amplifier is pitched into a super competitive market place but managed to have enough personality and quality to more than hold its own against the competition. The matching Creek CD53 CD player will also be entering a similarly competitive market segment where it will be up against similar competition to its integrated amplifier stable mate. Priced at UK£1199 it goes head to head with the Naim CD5 and is about two hundred pounds more expensive than one of the other players I enjoy, the Rega Jupiter.

So how does this player justify the price tag? Mainly with a very persuasive musical performance, especially when partnering the 5350SE amplifier. At the risk of giving away the ending I would say these two are the best combination I have heard at this price point. You are just going to have to wait before I justify that statement while I fill you in on the specification of the CD53.

This player is not as physically impressive as the amplifier, the thick front plate is still here and the solid aluminium box is similar to the 5350SE's, so far so good. But the switch gear and the drawer just slightly let the side down. Its not that they are really bad it's just next to the amplifiers superlative build the CD53 is slightly disappointing. The amplifier and CD player do look good together in a rack if that is important to you. I guess these design issues can at least partly be explained by the innards of the player, because this is where the money has obviously gone and a good thing too. The transport is a Philips CDM12 mechanism, controlled by custom designed software, a common trick with this transport and one that can yield surprisingly large rewards over using the supplied control algorithms. Digital to analogue conversion is carried out by a Crystal semiconductor delta-sigma DAC running at 24 bit and 192kHz. The analogue filtering is achieved with fully balanced circuitry which Creek claim gives "sound quality ahead of much higher priced CD players", while a customised ultra low fitter master clock and extra circuitry to reduce fitter from the digital signal processor ensure that the bits arrive and importantly that they arrive on-time. There are two digital outputs one co-axial and the other optical. These have been re-clocked for low fitter and transformer coupled which will usually mean a good connection to an outboard device without the risk of ground plane induced noise wrecking the data transfer. Creek obviously feel that things may change in the digital area and that an upgrade path should be open. To enable this the D to A converter, high quality master clock generator, fitter reduction circuitry and regulated power supplies are mounted on separate boards to allow upgrading at a later date if (or rather when) technology has moved on.

Over the years quite a few companies have realised the importance of proper power supply architectures in CD players to ensure good sound. Keeping the noisy digital section isolated from the delicate analogue should yield rewards in noise performance and musicality. Creek have obviously spent considerable time here. In the CD53 we have two `grain-oriented steel' mains transformers, these are coupled, via smoothing capacitors to two separate power supplies for the digital and analogue sections.

Front panel controls consist of a few more than the usual suspects and of course their numbers are further fleshed out by a full feature, anonymous, remote control handset which uses the common RC5 command set. Mains input is through a fused IEC mains inlet so power cable experimentation is easy and worthwhile. I found positive and worthwhile performance changes with a MusicWorks mains lead in place of the supplied cable. Gold plated Phono/RCAs for the (unbalanced) analogue output are joined by balanced outputs via two professional 3 pin XLR sockets, it is very unusual to find balanced outputs on a player in this price bracket. I was not able to test the sound quality using them, as I do not have any balanced gear! Future Creek products, specifically a new preamplifier, will have balanced inputs. If you can make use of the balanced inputs you might get an even better sound from this player than I did, especially if you need long interconnect runs.

Much of my time with this player was spent with it playing through the 5350SE amplifier with only checks and balances being carried out through my usual main system. I obviously needed to get an idea of the performance envelope and make sure that the 5350SE was not flattering the player too much. I found myself playing a really wide variety of music through the Creek pairing in the four months I had access to it. I won't try to fully list the discs I played and you can check the 5350SE review in the last issue for more of the titles. The overall sound from the CD53 was pretty consistent across the range displaying a full and rich sound balance that was particularly suited to acoustic music.

The particular area of excellence which really puts this player (especially when partnered with the 5350SE) to the top of the pile in its price bracket is its ability in integrating musical strands and make sense of rhythms. Playing Dead Can Dance - A Passage In Time (most bands might describe this as a best of) we can compare the various stages of this bands evolution and the wide range of "historical" music influences they have drawn on. Of particular interest is the way the CD53 always manages to deliver a musical presentation and the interleaving melodies and tunes of Dead can Dance songs are never lost even when the complexity increases as a song moves toward a climax. This results in a very enjoyable player that keeps you interested. During the time I was listening to this pairing I heard a serious system from another brand (5 times the price!) and was shocked at how poorly that system was able to hold the listeners interest. I put this down to a lack of suspense in the music especially compared to the Creek. What do I mean by that? Well take Abra Moore's Live from the strangest places mini album (5 mostly acoustic tracks a little harshly recorded but a very powerful piece nonetheless) and the tension built between the themes of the songs. With the Creek pairing the music produced by this excellent singer/songwriter keeps you on an emotional edge as the energy builds, the result is exciting just as music should be. If you want a soporific system to play music to drink your Cocoa by, look elsewhere! Simply put this player and amplifier can excite. Some seem to think that a system that has integration must be low resolution. This is obviously nonsense. But finding a player that is so capable of correctly maintaining musicality while getting so much of the information off of the disk is rare at this price point. The Creek did not overly cosset poor recordings, that said it did not lay all threads bare. A large part of detail retrieval for me is note shaping rather than hearing the third cellists belch and yet again the Creek was very convincing in this area.

If I had to pick one frequency area where the CD53/5350SE pairing really shine, it's in the midrange. The quality of vocals is seductive in the extreme and I had to indulge in playing loads of female vocals like Natalie Merchant. Her Ophelia album is a perennial favourite of mine and it's an album I keep coming back to. Natalie has a one of a kind voice able to pull your emotions with her at will. The CD53 resolved her voice giving it no unwanted added emphasis just allowing the beautiful performance to breath. To further aid the match to the amplifier the treble response is extended with plenty of information and it is well integrated to the midrange yielding a low fatigue sound. Cymbals, however, were a little splashy, lacking the full body portrayed by better but more expensive hardware. The tone of most instruments, strongly plucked guitar strings for example was accurately rendered and the harmonic richness of the guitar was there in abundance giving a natural sound and a live sound. The various elements of recordings had plenty of space and there was a lack of congestion with lyrics easily intelligible. For those of you worried about such things the CD53/5350SE pairing was able to cast a wide and deep if slightly diffuse and unfocused soundstage, this diffuse quality more apparent with the CD53 playing through the 53505E than my own amplification, implying that the amplifier is partly to blame.

The weakness of this CD player is in its bass reproduction. What bass there is is very tuneful and times well across the full range from the lower mid down. The notes produced are well formed with very little artificial truncation. But compared to my own Micromega for example the Creek bass lacked some power and failed to underpin some tracks: it lacks absolute authority. A key test was Merz - Merz, which is an album with a distinctly Reggae feel and needs the satisfying grumbling of deep bass to work. Auditioning the CD53 through my main system the bass was lacking making the album hard to connect with. This deficiency is actually a definite advantage when the CD53 is partnered with the Creek 5350SE. In the review of the 5350SE I found that a powerful bass line like that in the Merz (ACDC's Stiff Upper Lip was another good example) could-expose the amplifier if the speakers and source were strong in the bass. So the slight weakness of the CD53 is the perfect match to the 5350SE. Yes it is less than accurate and probably less superficially exciting, but the result is more music which is always a fair exchange in my book.

Bearing the strengths and weaknesses of these components in mind I would think about partnering them with a good quality full range pair of speakers or you will miss a large part of the performance available. I found the Shahinian Starter or Compass a really good match in a higher price bracket as they made the most of the bass on offer and allow that midrange to breath. Excellent results were also had with a pair of Royd RR1's and for a small lounge I would struggle to think of a better system at less than UK£3000.

When thinking about this review I kept coming back to the strengths of these components as a system.

System: A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole.

Balance: A harmonious or satisfying arrangement or proportion of parts or elements, as in a design.

So system Balance: A group of interacting elements forming a complex whole that is harmonious and satisfying.

The reason for quoting these definitions is that they are the perfect description of what we are trying to achieve with our groups of components and what Michael Creek has achieved with the CD53 CD player and 53505E integrated amplifier. Simply put, neither exposes the other and each plays to the others strengths, and as I said above, these two are the best combination I have heard at this price point. It makes their audition essential against the competition.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Creek CD53 CD Player
Outputs (analogue): 1 x single-ended phono; 1x balanced XLR
Outputs (digital): 1 x Co-axial; 1 x Toslink optical
Output impedance: 100 Ohm un-balanced
Output impedance: 200 Ohm balanced
Frequency Response: 1 Hz to 20kHz +/- 0.25 dB
Power consumption: (Idling) 10W
Power consumption: (max.) 20W
Size (W x H x D): 430 x 70 x 250mm
Price: UK£1199

Manufacturer
Creek Audio
Tel. (44)(0)208-361-4133
Fax. (44)(0)208-361-4136
E-mail. info at creekaudio.co.uk

Net. www.creekaudio.co.uk

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