This high-end CD player was the only product to earn five stars from our reviewers in November

November is a busy time for What Hi-Fi?. For starters, we have to get into our gladrags, ascend from our test rooms and reveal the year’s What Hi-Fi? Award winners at our swanky black-tie ceremony.

Then we have to contend with Black Friday and trawl all the stores, specialist and mainstream, to find you the best hi-fi and home cinema deals to be had on said Award winners and any other five-star product we have reviewed.

*Raises fist at sky and screams “Black fudging Friday” in angry William Shatner voice*

On top of all that, we have to continue our eternal quest, reviewing new products to keep our buying advice up to date and relevant to what’s actually in stores right now.

Which is why, despite all of the above, we continued to publish reviews throughout November (11 to be precise), maintaining business as usual in our viewing and listening rooms.

During that process, however, there was one thing that was a little bit different in November for our reviewers: we found only one product worthy of a five-star rating. Which makes this, the latest edition of our regular Pick of the Month column, our shortest ever.

The Rotel Michi Q5

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The vinyl revival has been a joyful thing for quite some time now – which is awesome. But if you prefer your physical media to be a little more compact and shiny – and at the same time have a surplus of serious cash – then you might want to consider the Rotel Michi Q5.

This undeniably premium CD player retails for £5499 ($7499 / AU$9499). That's a clear level above the £2995 ($3995 / AU$4999) Cyrus 40 CD we recommend as the top option in our best CD player guide.

After putting it through its paces, though, we can say that it’s certainly worth it – assuming you have the accompanying amplifier and speakers to back it up. The giant unit is packed with top-end, custom hardware designed to make the absolute most of CDs.

Highlights include a bespoke CNC-machined aluminium CD-transport mechanism and ESS ES9028PRO eight-channel DAC chip. The latter lets you play 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256 files via its USB input, in addition to its CD-spinning capabilities.

Most importantly, when paired with our price-appropriate reference Burmester 088/911MkIII amplifier and ATC SCM50 speakers, it delivers stellar audio. Whether it’s layered classical arrangements, bopping pop, or booming metal, the unit delivers audio with impressive detail resolution, expressive dynamics and a nicely taut bass.

As you will see from our reviewers' five-star rating and verdict: “Some people will baulk at the Michi Q5’s price, and that’s understandable. Given we are so far into the age of streaming, a high-end CD player certainly isn’t going to make sense for everyone. However, if you are dedicated to the original silver disc and have a collection that justifies this kind of expense, we have no hesitation in recommending the Rotel Michi Q5 highly.”

Five stars

Read our full Rotel Michi Q5 review

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