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aren't good machines, they are. Considering what they
do, they are among the finest digital componentry made.
It's what they don't do that puts them all behind the
Reimyo.
Inherent within the sound of the Reimyo is an
immediately recognizable "rightness" that puts it well
ahead of the foregoing competition. Having had ample
time to think about just what it is that makes the Reimyo
a landmark digital product, it appears to come down to
the natural complexity of individual sounds, immediacy
and an amazing lack of mesh noise. This combination
of aural elements have come together in the Reimyo to
result in a sound that is unlike anything heard before. It's
not just a better sounding player; it's a vastly different
sounding player. It has gone somewhere no digital
device has gone before - it is defining Hi-Rez!
What It's Made Of
One reviewer described the aura of the Reimyo
as Bentley-like. He was right. The feel of this unit is
decidedly high-tech, but with an appearance that is also
decidedly stately. It's bold, but in an understated way
that harkens to the lasting qualities of a Bentley auto.
Except for the remote. The remote control is
plastic and rather mundane looking, nothing stately
about it. Some have chided this player for retailing for
$17,000 while having a remote that looks no better than
a child's toy. I would agree, except for the fact that for
the first time in my experience I had a remote that worked
exactly as it was supposed to every time. How many
times have you pushed a button on a remote, even the
fancy metal sculpted ones, and nothing happened? A
second push usually gets the job done, but repeated
pushings can be frustrating. The remote with the Reimyo
worked first time every time I pushed a button. No repeat
pushing, no fake pushes, no wondering if it worked. It
worked perfectly, even when not pointed directly at the
player.
The Reimyo weighs 33 Ibs. and is 4.5" x 17" x
15.3" (HxWxD). It is a true CD player in that it only plays
CDs (16 bit-44.1kHz Redbook) and nothing else. CDs
are loaded via a top bay. One merely slides the window
back and inserts the CD on a spindle. A magnetic clamp
is then placed on the CD to secure it to the spindle. My
first "top loader" was an inexpensive transport from Audio
Alchemy. After that there was the CEC digital transport
which was a substantial step up. The Reimyo's trans-
port mechanism is again, a substantial step up from the
CEC. This is sweet. The CD bay is fairly deep and looks
to be made of a single piece of gray metal. Closing the
glass window over it prepares the unit for operation,
opening the window during operation stops the CD - and
I mean stops the CD dead in its tracks immediately. The
only construction complaint that I had with the unit
related to the sliding glass window, which moved rather
reluctantly sometimes as I slid it back and forth.
The Reimyo has basic player functions on the
front and on the remote. On the rear of the player are XLR
and RCA analog output connectors, plus a digital output
jack for RCA. The power cord is detachable.
The Reimyo is not a player from one company,
but it is a player designed and constructed by a team of
companies - three of them.
The Japanese Victor Corporation (JVC) is re-
sponsible for the digital and analog circuitry as well as
the top loading XL-Z900 transport mechanism that I think
so highly of. Most audiophiles are aware of the work that
JVC has done in recent years with the resurrection of
numerous 60's and 70's classical and jazz recordings.
These hi-end CDs are called XRCDs by JVC. A signifi-
cant part of the XRCD process are the 24 bit K2
processors and K2 Rubidium Master Clock, aswell as
a fanatical concern for detail and precision. With the
Reimyo, the digital signal is processed by a 4X
oversampling, 24 bit, Extended K2 digital circuit. Digital
filters then upsample the signal 4X to 705.6 kHz, before
the dual PCM-1704 multi-bit converters turn digital bits
and pieces into analog music that we can hear. In some
respects, the handling of the digital signal here is similar
to that of the new Wadia and Resolution players, both of
which oversample and upsample themselves to 705
kHz. I heard the Wadia system in Las Vegas, and while
the sound there was good, nothing about the music I
heard suggested to me that anything exceptional was
going on. I've had the Resolution Opus 21 in the Big Rig
at length, and can positively state that while the Reso-
lution has its strengths, it was not in the same class as
the Reimyo.
The Reimyo is more than JVC, however. Part of
the team brought together for this project was Kyodo
Denshi, a Japanese manufacturer of precision measur-
ing equipment. They assemble the Reimyo and are
responsible for many of the custom components specifi-
cally designed for this machine and no other.
Lastly, the Combak Corporation provided their
resonance control technology, internal wiring and sales
and promotion to the entire package. Combak's role in
this venture should not be underplayed in any respect.
The best component in the world is of no use until people
know about it and can purchase it. That's part of what
Combak is contributing. Add that to the voicing they
have provided - voicing which is oftentimes the finalizing
touch, determining, not only how the unit ultimately
sounds, but how well it will be accepted by the audiophile
community.
Set-up
For the purposes of this audition, I set-up a
special stand in the Big Rig made up of Sound Anchor
speaker stands, an Osiris amp stand on top of that, and
a Bright Star Audio Little Rock. The results were a solid
and inert platform upon which to place the player.