AVI Lab Series CD Player - mini review

[the record spot]

Well, one of these anyway:-

£1500 when it came out, about ten years or so back. Lusted after this and the amp but was never going to happen - way out of my league at the time.

So, there I was on Gumtree just the other night (just for a change) and look what pops up in near mint condition!

A few texts with the seller, one wee five hour round trip to Aberdeen this morning (lovely morning it was too), and here we are! Just spinning a few discs now. Don't you just love legacy hifi.

 

[steve_1979]

The old remote control looks nicer than the new ones.

How much was it?

 

[the record spot]

Mind yer own business cheeky sow!!

£300.

The remote's nothing special - an unbranded affair, but it'll do. I really must invest in one of these all-in-one thingies. The coffee table's legs are buckling with all the different remotes on it!

 

[steve_1979]

Bargin!

 

[John Duncan]

Why didn't you just get yourself a £50 DVD player?

 

[the record spot]

Sometimes, entry entry level just ain't good enough JD!

 

[the record spot]

Bargin!

That's what I thought!

 

[the record spot]

How often do you get the chance to lash the cash on a £1500 disc player. How many of us would do that now with the way technology is going? So, when I saw a Lab Series player come up on Gumtree at the end of last week, this seemed like a good opportunity to go some way to answering that question. As I said earlier, one round trip to Aberdeen up and down the M90/A90 and £360 lighter (£300 for the player, £60 to refilll the car when I got back!) and I was in a position to find out.

When this came out in 2003, the reviews positively glowed for it and the partnering Lab Series amp. Great sound, great build and British. In practice, it's a great machine. For the price I paid, it's a steal, but it's not five times the player that the Arcam Alpha 6 is that I bought for £60 a few weeks before. That said, I've been playing a stack of CDs since I bought the Lab Series player which speaks volumes I think.

Build is excellent; it's more of a midi-sized unit. Wider than Cyrus, but about a third less than standard hifi separates, I'd say at a rough guess. The CD tray fair shoots out, but is nothing special, some would be disappointed with this for the price paid, but the truth of it is it works a treat, is a common design and is easily replaceable in the event of a problem. The unit I bought is in near perfect shape, and I've not had any issues so far. There are a few dealers out there who can help out so I won't be stuck in the event of a problem.

The sound quality is excellent - very clean sounding, letting the heart of the music shine through. Nothing's fazed it yet; just listening to Peer Gynt, but we've gone from Elvis Costello, the excellent Sarah Cracknell Lipslide album, and a whole pile of others. All in all, it's a very fine player.

But, would I have spent £1500 on it...? No. Obviously, I didn't, so the question then becomes, was it worth £1500! That's a different question and I think there are more reasons than just audio quality when buying luxury hifi goods.

All in all, the Lab Series player is a fabulous machine, but the gap as ever is small with good digital products. The Marantz, Denon, and Arcam players I have all show this to be true (to my ears at least!). Still delighted with it though; what a find!

 

[Frank Harvey]

Don't you just love legacy hifi.

Unlike the manufacturer

 

[the record spot]

Heh, of course that was unintentional. It was, honest!!

 

[matthewpiano]

Interesting stuff RS. :cheers:

 

[relocated]

Enjoy your new purchase RS. :cheer:

 

[Al ears]

Enjoy your purchase. Interesting remote is it is exactly the same as the one which came with my Stello CD player.

 

[hoopsontoast]

Enjoy your purchase. Interesting remote is it is exactly the same as the one which came with my Stello CD player.

And the original Rega Planet.

 

[fr0g]

The question...obviously on everyone's mind is...

"WILL IT BLEND?"

 

[the record spot]

Yes, it goes well with a good cuppa Fr0g! I love it I have to say. It's a smart little unit. Currnetly spinning an early CD release of Springsteen's Born to Run (the second one I think, a Japanese issue for the US market) and it's excellent. There aren't many great versions of the album kicking around, but this one's close to the vinyl sound. The music's great, but the recording, not so good.

I should point out I haven't done any side-by-side comparisons. Sometimes you just go with something when you know it sounds good. No plans to do any either; the players I have are all good, most of the others I've heard in the past likewise. I think it must be one hell of a difficult job to screw up on a CD player (am sure that's been done though!).

So yes, it blends well!

 

[the record spot]

Enjoy your purchase. Interesting remote is it is exactly the same as the one which came with my Stello CD player.

And the original Rega Planet.

Fancy that! It's basic but has a good feel to it in the hand. Nothing flash, but robust and looks fit to last.

 

[steve_1979]

The question...obviously on everyone's mind is...

"WILL IT BLEND?"

:O

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl28d6tbko

 

[Craig M.]

So yes, it blends well!

Obviously don't waste your life on youtube. Wise decision.

Ah, beaten to it by Steve.

 

[Craig M.]

Lusted after this and the amp but was never going to happen - way out of my league at the time.

Sure I remember one of the Whf staff saying he had the LSi amp a few years back - Simon Lucas? I would've loved one back when I had Dynaudios, you don't see them often and when you do they seem to fetch around £750. Plenty of power I think - 200/250 watts? - one would've delivered a boot up the asre of my Dyns alright.

 

[the record spot]

The guy I bought the CDP from had one. Sadly, that wasn't up for grabs alas...but yes, 250 wpc. Not many domestic/home audio amps come close to that even now.