What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
11 AUG 2008
Arcam FMJ CD17
It's a player of considerable merit, but the CD17 has patently chosen pipe'n'slippers over rock'n'roll damnation
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'Time' has been called on Arcam's venerable CD73. The £450 CD player won an Award in 2004 and kept a tenacious grip on its five-star recommendation afterwards, but it's been nudged aside in favour of this, the FMJ CD17.
'FMJ' stands for Full Metal Jacket, and it's the first time Arcam's beefy aluminium-and-steel casework has been available on a product as (relatively) lowly as this.
As well as the chunky, attractively understated looks, the CD17 features a hefty toroidal transformer, Wolfson DAC and Arcam's dramatic-sounding 'Mask of Silence' electromagnetic damping. It's also supplied with a remote control so cheap and nasty it would look better accompanying a £30 no-name DVD player.
A smooth and substantial performance
With a copy of Easy Star All-Stars Radiodread silently loaded and swiftly read, the broad strokes of the CD17's performance are as smooth and substantial as its casework. Low frequencies are full-bodied and tonally distinct, with a punchy solidity that suits the material down to the ground.
Voices in the midrange are sweet and expressive, with plenty of space found for them on the well-defined soundstage, and there's adequate bite and sparkle at the top of the frequency range.
The Arcam handles dynamic movements confidently, and keeps tempos on the front foot despite the generosity of its bass reproduction.
But there's a shortage of animation
The longer we listen, though, the more we're put in mind of the sort of politician who's a skilled public speaker despite having little of substance to say. The CD17 can gather you up in the emotional sweep of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, where its congenial lyricism is shown to winning effect, but ask it to supply full details of Can's Oh Yeah and it can bluster uncomfortably. There's a shortage of animation to the Arcam's performance – its best rivals sound more alive and engaged.
Refinement and excitement shouldn't be mutually exclusive, but the CD17 comes down squarely on the side of safety and comfort. We don't doubt that many listeners will find that attitude entirely to their liking.
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