New CD player on the way - Leema Stream

Picked up one of these tonight. The Leema Stream was originally released in 2007 and out of my price range at the time (£1200), however I adored the minimalist design. Due to arrive next Wednesday, I decided I couldn't pass up on this opportunity this time round!

 

And yesterday (Wednesday) it arrived.

Early listening tells me that it's clearer than the Cambridge on the finer details, so there's less of the Quad's masking of some of the vocal - they seem to have a tendency to suppress softer vocals, so anything that has a "b-" or "g-" for instance, can sometimes seem suppressed.

On the other hand, bass is fullsome but not excessive. Articulate but not lean. Plucked guitar and cymbals are present and correct but in the wrong setup could almost be shrill. Thankfully not here.

Build is excellent. For £1200 at new you could reasonably ask for a better than plastic loading tray (moreso in 2008) but that quibble aside, the minimalist fascia ticks the boxes. It feels solid and reliable.

I'll try to do a compare with the Cambridge but for now, I've 14 days to decide whether to keep it. Probably will, but more listening needed.

 

Oh, almost forgot: "it's arrived, it's arrived!!".



That's better.

 

Beautiful player!

 

It is! I love the very minimal design. Just finished listening to the Fish People release of Kate Bush "Hounds of Love" and it's done a very fine job.

Currently listening to a WG Target for Joni's Court and Spark. Different take again on what I was used to previously.

Apparently, there's 16 DACs in this thing. I thought the Kenwood DP7090 was bad enough with eight...!

 

Reminds me of my old Cal Icon MKII. Best player I ever had, should never have sold it.

 

Yeah, I know that feeling well alright.

I hummed and hawed over this on Ebay for a few days before going for it.

Might get a small selector switch unit to let me swap between the Cambridge and the Leema. I need the 752 for hi-res discs and Blu-ray but want to use the line inputs in the Quads over the digital ones.