CD / SACD players and transports — Gold Note CD-1000 MkII

The CD-1000 MkII is the full-size CD player of Gold Note's Series 1000, designed and built in Florence by a company with roots in turntable and tonearm manufacture that now produces a complete range of electronics. It combines a transport with an integrated DAC and a digital volume control, and Gold Note offers it in three versions that differ in DAC chip and digital inputs.

Key specs that matter

The standard model uses a Burr-Brown PCM1796 24-bit/192 kHz DAC, the Deluxe uses the Burr-Brown PCM1792A, and the Deluxe DSD adds a USB-B input handling PCM up to 32-bit/384 kHz and DSD256. Frequency response is 20 Hz to 20 kHz within 0.3 dB. THD is 0.001% maximum, signal-to-noise is 128 dB and dynamic range 127 dB. Output impedance is 50 ohms, with balanced XLR and RCA analogue outputs. Coaxial and optical inputs up to 192 kHz are handled by an AKM receiver. The chassis measures 430 x 135 x 375 mm and weighs 12 kg.

Engineering and use context

The transport is the JPL-2800 aluminium drawer mechanism supplied by Stream Unlimited in Austria, chosen for speed stability and low jitter. Gold Note's Zero-Clock technology further reduces jitter in the digital path. Power comes from a dual-mono supply with two encapsulated toroidal transformers made in Italy, which keeps the channels electrically apart and limits stray field. The output stage is solid state, fully balanced and built around low-noise Burr-Brown operational circuits in dual-mono configuration. A switchable digital volume control lets the player feed a power amplifier or active loudspeakers directly, and a large OLED display shows track and time data. Playback is gapless, and the brushed aluminium chassis is offered in silver, black and gold. The design is open to upgrades with the PSU-1250 or PSU-1000 external inductive power supply and the TUBE-1012 or TUBE-1006 Class A valve output stage, which use twelve and six valves respectively.

Pairing

The low output impedance drives any line input and long interconnects without loss. With the volume control engaged, a stereo power amplifier or active monitors can be connected directly and the preamplifier removed from the chain. The coaxial and optical inputs let a TV or streamer use the internal DAC, and the Deluxe DSD version accepts a computer via USB.

Alternatives

Gold Note's CD-5.2 offers a half-width CD player with an AKM DAC and volume control in the Series 5.2 format.