Cambridge Soundworks 88CD CD Player
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- Device Type: Player
- Number of Discs: 1
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Underated product of a genius
Pros
Clarity, functionality, simplicity, durability, AM/FM reception, excellent CD player.
Cons
Practically none. Old-fashioned CD-load rather than motorized feed, but one less thing to go wrong.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
A work of engineering audio art. This will be known as the final word in compact stereo systems for a long time to come.
This CD player/radio system provides the best sounding technology in a compact unit of this size. The late Henry Kloss, the famous audio designer and engineer, again lived up to his genius with the 88CD being one of his last and best creations before moving on to Tivoli Audio.
The 88CD does everything excellently. The audio is crisp and clear, the AM/FM tuner very sensitive with excellent selectivity, and the CD player admirable in sound reproduction. The dual alarm customizations are well thought-out. I can't think of a single flaw of this system. It does remind me of a product from Drake (R8 receiver) with the rubber buttons and green backlit display. It is solid, heavy, and built like a tank. No flimsy boombox or shiny, thin-speaker glitsy player here.
Make no mistake, the 88CD is vastly superior to its replacement, the CD740. The 88CD was Henry Kloss's masterpiece. The CD740 is an attempted redesign by the geeks at Creative Technology, who took a legendary product and made it into a hip-hop playing boombox loaded into a cabinet. The CD740 sounds mushy, indistinct, overly heavy in bass, and really an audio disaster. Since Creative Technology bought Cambridge Soundworks, all their products are now suspect in my opinion. So word of advice, seek out the classic 88CD and avoid the replacement CD740.
I believe the 88CD will be as well regarded in the future as Henry Kloss's KLH Model 8 is still today, which dates back from the 60's. The Bose SoundWave doesn't come close - read comments elsewhere on that comparison (audioasylum.com). You can wait for the upcoming $500 Tivoli Audio System, but I doubt you'll get any better sound quality, without even considering the huge difference in price. Highly recommended.
The 88CD does everything excellently. The audio is crisp and clear, the AM/FM tuner very sensitive with excellent selectivity, and the CD player admirable in sound reproduction. The dual alarm customizations are well thought-out. I can't think of a single flaw of this system. It does remind me of a product from Drake (R8 receiver) with the rubber buttons and green backlit display. It is solid, heavy, and built like a tank. No flimsy boombox or shiny, thin-speaker glitsy player here.
Make no mistake, the 88CD is vastly superior to its replacement, the CD740. The 88CD was Henry Kloss's masterpiece. The CD740 is an attempted redesign by the geeks at Creative Technology, who took a legendary product and made it into a hip-hop playing boombox loaded into a cabinet. The CD740 sounds mushy, indistinct, overly heavy in bass, and really an audio disaster. Since Creative Technology bought Cambridge Soundworks, all their products are now suspect in my opinion. So word of advice, seek out the classic 88CD and avoid the replacement CD740.
I believe the 88CD will be as well regarded in the future as Henry Kloss's KLH Model 8 is still today, which dates back from the 60's. The Bose SoundWave doesn't come close - read comments elsewhere on that comparison (audioasylum.com). You can wait for the upcoming $500 Tivoli Audio System, but I doubt you'll get any better sound quality, without even considering the huge difference in price. Highly recommended.
