Ayon Audio CD-2 : StereoMojo’s 2009 CD Player of the Year

In still another first in the world review, our Publisher James L. Darby opined, “It has taken over two decades, but CD audio has come a long, long way. Faster processors and the development of better filters and knowledge of how to eliminate jitter and other digital artifacts has exploded.

Read the following carefully so it’s not misinterpreted: I think the Ayon CD-2 can be as musically satisfying and rewarding as an equivalently priced analog front end. Shocking? Well, consider that one would have to buy a turntable, arm, cartridge and a good phono preamp – four pieces – for that amount. We’re not talking about used stuff here since we are not talking about a used CD player. (I hear you thinking out there) My analog front end would cost over $12,000 to replace, not including all the requisite accessories like alignment tools, brushes, scales, demagnetizers and a record cleaning machine. And I enjoy the CD-2 as much as listening to my analog. I have never been one that is in love with the ritual ceremony of playing an LP (many admit that they are) or one that easily ignores pops, skips and surface noise. I don’t own any scratched or excessively noisy records in my 3,000 plus collection. I am not in love with LP’s. But I am in love with music – I have been since I started playing piano at age 2. I have always preferred how music sounds when played on a good analog system, so I do not make these kinds of statements lightly”.