A Third Perspective: Stello CDT100 and DA100 Signature

Regular followers of the Desirable Audio Boutique blog would have known Ken (maggielurva calls him Master Ken), one of our close friends. He has generously agreed to write up on the Stello CDT100 cd transport and DA100 DAC after he listened to them in his system. Enjoy! Here is his story:
I have to confess. I actually asked OdioSleuth to loan me the Stello cd player combo for a trial to hear how it fare in my system. In my 10 years of audiophilia, I have never had any Asian made cd player in my system. So I was thinking to myself, why not listen to one to see how good they are, especially one that is being sold at a more affordable price.

Since readers have seen the pictures of the Stello innards and also the fact that Big E has covered the technical aspects of the player, I will just cover the performance of the player in my system. Connecting the Stello combo to my system was easy. I used I2S connection first with upsample after reading Big E’s preference for this combo.

The first thing that struck me when listening to the Stello was the portrayal of imaging and soundstage. It was very clearly laid out. The imaging of the vocalist was very solid and 3 dimensional. It was also slightly more forward in front of the soundstage compared to my Meridian 508.24. The rest of the band was slightly behind the vocalist. This helps create a very “live” feel to the music and makes depth perception to be easily discernible. This was most apparent in the Koji Tamaki Red Wine (MUCD-1064). Track 8 in the Legendary James Wong CD (Perfect Music HZHCD029) also easily demonstrates the depth perception.

On the issue of the sound, I would say that the Stello also did quite well. Anyone who has and will listen to this Stello combo would first notice the liquid midrange. This liquidity plus a slightly forward midrange makes listening to vocalist a great experience. This is especially true when I listened to Julie London. I keep digging up cd after cd that favour vocals like Cry Me a River (Best of Julie London, Rhino R2 70737 S2 18810). Koji Tamaki cd also easily demonstrates the strength of Stello’s midrange. Even though the midrange is more forward than I am use to. I never experienced listener fatigue even after listening to more than a few hours.

I can say that the bass produced by the Stello cd player has balls! I don’t think anybody would ever complain about not getting enough bass with this cd player. Mind you, the bass though ample does not overpower the music. Kevin Axt’s bass in the initial part of the first track of Shelby Lynne’s latest CD, Just a Little Lovin’ (Lost Highway B0009789-02) is well controlled. My only complain is that it is slightly less defined than what I heard from my Meridian 508.24. The latter's bass is also more tactile.

I have always been quite particular about the high frequency of the sound when I listened to any system. I would say that the high frequency extension of the Stello combo is good. I was listening to the Harry Belafonte on Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (Classic Compact LSOCD 6006). After most songs, you can hear the crowd clapping enthusiastically. In lesser cd players, I always noticed that the sound that comes out sounds like heavy rain pelting down on a tin roof. But with the Stello player, I never heard this. In fact the clapping sounds extremely lifelike. I would say that the overall sound of the Stello verge on the slightly warm side of neutral. I think most audiophile would prefer this type of presentation rather than the clinical or analytical sound. This would be good if you want to listen to those pop music cds that I like to listen to which are not that “well” recorded. Examples are the Pussycat Dolls, Maroon 5 and Usher.

Is there anything that I don’t like about the Stello player? Seriously that would be a NO! But if I have to nitpick, I would say that the noise floor is not as low as my Meridian player. I would say that the high frequency is also slightly blunted, i.e. it does not extend as much. This makes the sound to be less airy than I had hoped for. The Stello combi is just a snitch less transparent than what I used to with my Meridian player. I would say that this did not distract from the fact that this is an extremely good player that is being sold at such an affordable price.

So if you are looking at the cd player at an affordable audiophile price, this Stello cd player should be at the top of your audition list. It really let your enjoy the musiclike a good component should.

A Mid-price Wonder - Stello CDT100 and DA100 Signature

Though I have the Stello pair in my system for just a few days, the impression they make is such that I'd ask anyone looking for a cd player in the price range of the Stello to include them into his/her audition shortlist. Yes, you must.

The Stello CDT100 and DA100 Signature deliver excellent sound quality. This is especially so in the mid-range, where it is liquid, flowing and has a thin layer of nice warmth. I would even say that they sound tubey to me, although there was not one tube to be seen in the entire package. The mid just stands a little prominent than the other spectrum, making human voices and instruments like saxophone stand out a little more in the mix. The midrange is indeed the glory of the Stello pair.

Their bass is tuneful, its weight is more than adequate to convey the gravita of most music, though I think I might ask for a bit more slam, but probably it is not a fair thing to expect at this price point. The highs are clean, there is not a hint of over-brightness to be heard, there is also a certain sweetness to it making listening an enjoyable experience.

They totally avoided the pitfall of many budget gears where the sound is threadbare, harmonically undernourished or thin. None of these for Stello, sound from the Stello cd transport and DAC has a certain richness and a good body and they sound very 'human'.

I bet you'd find yourself listening to music for long hours not only without fatigue, but would actually be enjoying the entire session. At the end of the day, the Stello pair's mission is to make music and they never lost sight of the music message.

At RM6,600 nett for the pair, their value quotient is very high, especially the DA100 Signature DAC because of its versatility. Its USB input pretty much ensured that it is future-proof. If fund is tight, go for the DAC first, then save for the future upgrade to the transport.

If a promise comes through, there will be a third perspective on the Stello CDT100 and DA100 Signature's performance here soon. Sure break the tedium of having to read only Big E and me day in day out. :-) So I'd stop here on my short take of the Stello pair

The Stello pair's heart is in the music, and that is the right place.

Stello is carried by RAVE, call Edwin 03-21632818, 012-3241745

Giant Killer On The Digital Front? Stello CDt 100 & DA 100 Signature.

Stello is the high end brand for April Music, manufactured in South Korea. Note, that red display can be dim able or completely switched off.

We've often been accused of being high end chasing audiophiles! There are reasons for this happening, and I do agree that we do not "feature" enough reviews on the affordable end of hifi dome! Here are three reasons to ponder over:

1) Most of the time, as accommodating as we are, we've not found many affordable hifi gear that we could live with, even after extensive tweaking and major effort to get it to sound satisfactory to our usual standards, which are not impossibly high but nevertheless, we do have a certain minimum level of acceptance, in regards to sound quality. If we can't live with the equipment, why write about it?

2) We also feel there are many other hifi rags and internet based resources catering to this affordable segment of the hifi market. So no point adding another voice to an already crowded party.

3) We've spoken to many hifi and AV related specialist retailers, and all agree that the price list of RM$10K and above per piece of equipment is where most of the market action is!

So when unker Edwin of Rave Systems asked us to review this Stello pair, we'd hesitated for a little while. No point bringing something home, set it up and try to get it to sound the best possible for the next 2-3 weeks only to find that it doesn't live up to our minimum sound quality standards, then have to be returned to the dealer and have to tell them that there's to be no review because it's not good enough for us! We've done it before, and it's not something we'd like to do, believe me.

However, unker Edwin was very convinced that he had a pair of winner on his hands and insisted that we do find out for ourselves. I must now say that we're indeed a little prejudiced about this Stello pair.

The truth is, this Stello pair is a digital giant killer indeed! If today, you're a music lover planning to spend up to RM$15K on a digital front end, you'd really be an audiophool not to have included this Stello pair in your audition list. It's that good!

The very simple insides of the Stello CDt 100.

So now that I've let the cat out of the bag, just how good is the Stello CDt 100 & DA 100 Signature? Lets start with some first impressions. The CDt 100 is a rather sturdily, if not exquisitely built top loader, i.e. you have to remove the square rice cooker like lid on top, pull the magnetic puck out, put the CD you intend to listen on to the exposed transport, reverse the process, press the disc button so that the CD's TOC could be read and ready to play. Just as the DA100 Signature's build quality is as sturdy and not "over the top" built like the many times more expensive Esoterics. Everything is form follows function with good quality in mind, like the Neutrik XLR output connectors(which I used) and Cardas style RCA output plugs(I didn't try). On the inside, an over sized power supply, high quality WIMA poly caps and 1% metal film resistors are used with neatly laid out gold traced PCB board. The Stello DA 100 Signature runs pretty hot as it outputs in push/pull Class A for the best possible sound. Make sure you do not stack anything above the Stello DA 100 Signature.

Stello DA 100 Signature is undoubtedly the star of the pair, noted the quality parts used and that over sized power supply.

The DA 100 comes with as many as 5 input connection options but I only had AES and I2S stlye cables, provided by unker Edwin to work with. Of the two, I clearly preferred the I2S option for sound quality. It gave benefits of lower audible noise floor, better transparency and transient response. Images were more holographic focused too. I also tried the various sampling and non sampling options available on the DA 100 Signature. I found the 24/192 up sampling option to give the most dynamic and focused sound, but I had settled in to the 24/96 sampling option which I thought did sacrificed some dynamics and focus, but did return plenty in terms of image density and imaged less forwardly. The non over sampling option did gave the smoothest and most organic sound of the three but I felt it was too laid back and a bit life less with rock/pop music. I decided to base my review entirely on the said I2S connection and 24/96 sampling option from here onwards.

The back panel of the duo. Note the I2S cable provided, which is the best connection option for high quality sound performance.

The immediate sonic description that comes to mind is robust. The Stello pair presents music in a very energetically robust manner. There's so much texture(not to be mistaken for graininess) in the music when replayed thru the Stello pair. The highs are not the most refined(I am comparing again to the Esoteric X-03, just to note) but always seemed a tad laid back, which is a good thing. The mids are actually the special part of this Stello pair. I felt even if the tonality is slightly mid centric, it's indeed a good thing, as most musical content falls in this frequency spectrum. It may just be a small bump on the presence region of 1kHz or so, but when done right like the LS3/5A BBC mini monitors, it just gives music a sense of humanity. It is this trait that so many have fallen in love with the said BBC mini monitors and if you like that in your hifi, you'll undoubtedly like this Stello pair too. The bass is pretty tuneful yet is solidly analog like. Did you notice how most digital players have bass that are just a little hollow?, meaning they have the bass structure, but the bass is all outlines and very little fillings. In fact a recent and rather surprised visitor commented the sound of the Stello pair reminded him very much of an analog rig that he had used. How's that for digital compliments?

The Stello pair may not be the most transparent and may not have the most extension at both ends of the frequency extremes, again comparing to my recent reference player mentioned above. But I think you'd be too engrossed over it's musical sound presentation to notice.

The staging and imaging presentation aspect is very similar to my own Marantz CD7. Just right, neither laid back nor forward. I would think that this Stello pair just begs to be compared with the Sony XA 5400 ES SACD/CD player, which is similarly priced. Though I would rate both to be on equal terms subjective listening performance wise, there are some difference in their overall sonic direction. Now, I am just working with memory here, and you may look back in to my previous review of the Sony player for the full sonic picture. I found the Sony to give an overall smoother, more refined, and subjectively lush sound. But the Sony can also sound a little smaller in scale compared to the Stello pair here. The Stello's mids are very special compared to the more tonally neutral if well balanced Sony. The Sony's staging and imaging is rather slightly more laid back too. Overall, the Sony gives a smooth, lush and laid back sound, whilst the Stello pair presents music in a very energetically robust, textured and humane fashion. I did however, found both players to be about equal in terms of transparency, frequency extremes extension, dynamics and transient response. I can only say that if you want more hifi attributes, the Sony is the one to go for. However, if you prefer the musical expression of the most humane kind, then the Stello CDt 100 & DA 100 Signature is your kinda beast.

But since the Sony is not available in the local market, you'd only have the Stello to go with, unless, you're like my good friend PS, whom goes all the way(and trouble some) with the private import route. If you want local dealer services and warranty with your purchase, at this level there's only one practical and logical domestic shopping choice that I know of, which is the Stello CDt 100 & DA 100 Signature pair.

At what price the Stello CDt 100 & DA 100 Signature retails for you ask? It's priced at RM$3.3K each. Meaning if you buy them as a pair, CD transport & DAC, at RM$6.6K, are about the best value out there in high end audio performance to dollar ratio. In fact, they're so musically good(if not technical hifi attributes good), the Stello pair can musically out do a few CD players costing up to RM$15K or so that I know off.

The Stello pair looking very hand some on my top shelf. Those top panel air gaps on the DA 100 Signature are necessary for Class A output heat dissipation!

Also at the retail price listed, the Stello DA 100 Signature, with it's USB input option is quite a potential candidate for anyone wishing to hot rod or super charge their downloaded music with computer to their hifi system, which is getting popular these days. However, being someone from the industrial age, I do not have any resources to test that option. And lastly, did you know the Stello DA 100 Signature was designed with famed audio guru, Mark Levinson's input?

For the silly money of an retail price, what more could one possibly ask for?

Stello by April Music is sold by Rave Systems, contact Edwin, tel: 03-21632818