Review on 🎵 Enhanced Yamaha CD-S2100BL Natural Sound CD Player by Eric Young

This player has been on the market for years and has had problems since it was first introduced. I can't believe Yamaha has the audacity to offer this. I bought a brand new device 2 years ago and the problems started right away. And they continue to this day. Known issue: DAC (Digital Analog Decoder) in it "jumps". It turns on and off during playback until it's nice and hot. Then it seems to settle down and stop jumping - most of the time. But you have to babysit this player to play. And for 3 pieces it is absolutely absurd. So my routine is to turn it on first, let it warm up a bit, then put the disc in and let it run for about half an hour. Then, and only then, will the disc play reliably without gaps, breaks, or outright distortion. So, after warming up, it's a pretty decent sounding CD player. Sounds better than regular turntables in the $1000 range. worth three thousand? nope But it's better than average. In operational mode, it boots very slowly, reads the disk and prepares for actions. And it's VERY picky about the disc you want to play. I've come across a few it can't read, discs that have worked perfectly in every other player I've ever owned - all considerably cheaper than this Yamaha. Getting to the sound of this player - in a word, is "polite". "Neutral” and "honest” also come to mind. It's not light or dark, rich or subtle. But it's pretty quiet. My biggest complaint (besides the hopping) is that he's just too relaxed and therefore lacks dynamic power and weight. It is never fully developed to offer the size and scope needed to realistically represent large orchestral music or opera. It also doesn't quite capture the monstrosity of a full-fledged grand piano in a large hall that sounds more like a children's piano. It doesn't really miniaturize things; it just doesn't reproduce the range of big sounds in big halls like it should. Always more closed and intimate. Again, be polite. It's very sweet on top, however, with silky smooth fiddles and exquisite polished brass. As such, it is excellent for classical chamber music, acoustic jazz bands and choirs. And it's not the most detailed player. He never flinches at the sound of a performer in the room with you. For example, it does not show the clicks of the keys, nor the movement of the finger along the string during pizzicato, nor the breaths of the players. Those sounds are there, but you really have to listen carefully to hear them. It offers a nice recreation of what's on the recording but doesn't make you believe it's the real thing. He just does what he does and nothing more. All of these qualities are actually emphasized in SACD playback. Unlike any other SACD player I've come across, this one actually sounds better on good old CDs. A touch of the added brightness and straightness of most CDs takes this player's sound up a notch. However, the added sophistication of SACD does the opposite, going too far in a relaxed, flowing direction - almost boring. It is worth noting that this is a pure stereo SACD player and therefore cannot play the multi-channel layer. For reference, I've experimented with numerous good quality power cords and connectors (both RCA and XLR) to no avail. The player just isn't capable of being better than he is. And that's why I find it ridiculously overpriced. If it was half price and Yamaha fixed the DAC issue I would highly recommend this player. But at full price, given its aging durability (this unit is many years old) and with a known, recurring and uncorrected faulty DAC, I would steer clear of this Yamaha turntable and buy something else.