The Elekit TU-884CD is a limited edition tube output CD player in kit form produced by Elekit of Japan. My set has S/N No.: 884A032. This is a limited edition vacuum tube CD player employing a 12AU7 for the audio output and mine is a Philips tube. The digital sampling frequency is 44.1kHz.
Do-It-Yourself vacuum amp kits are part of a larger growing retro trend in Japan, taking modern products and giving them a classic feel and mostly employing tubes instead of SS circuits.
As you can see from the photos the kit is very extensively well thought out by Elekit of Japan and is of top notch grade in choice of components and chassis build bringing back many memories of the old Heathkit series of kits we took for granted so many years ago which are sadly missed today. The power transformer is a R-core transformer.
The kit and instructions are well laid out and suffice to say I built and put together the whole CD player and had it working in less then 8 hours. The time I took to build it was long as this player can be built between 4-5 hours, but I took my time listening to music, in between coffee breaks and a trip to the supermarket!
Impressions:
The TU-884CD is connected to my Hlly MK-III 3 tube headphone amplifier which employ 2 x 6H30 PI Sovtek "Super Tubes" which are of the 6DJ8 variant as well as 2 x GE5654 driver tubes. With this combination at present it is rendering the highest resolution of all my stock headphone amplifier and CD player combinations. The warmth of the tubes is well characterised and even though it is a highly analytical combination I have not found that it is overbearing or bright in any manner. Very small finite details in music pieces are rendered very precise and extremely well defined and this set up could be one of my reference combinations.
TU-884CD Tube CD Player Specifications:
- Vacuum tube: 12AU7 X 1
The kit and instructions are well laid out and suffice to say I built and put together the whole CD player and had it working in less then 8 hours. The time I took to build it was long as this player can be built between 4-5 hours, but I took my time listening to music, in between coffee breaks and a trip to the supermarket!
Impressions:
The TU-884CD is connected to my Hlly MK-III 3 tube headphone amplifier which employ 2 x 6H30 PI Sovtek "Super Tubes" which are of the 6DJ8 variant as well as 2 x GE5654 driver tubes. With this combination at present it is rendering the highest resolution of all my stock headphone amplifier and CD player combinations. The warmth of the tubes is well characterised and even though it is a highly analytical combination I have not found that it is overbearing or bright in any manner. Very small finite details in music pieces are rendered very precise and extremely well defined and this set up could be one of my reference combinations.
TU-884CD Tube CD Player Specifications:- Frequency response: 20Hz - 20,000Hz
- Sampling frequency: 44.1kHz
- Signal-noise ratio when 0dB:81dB（ASP OFF）,80dB（ASP ON）
- Harmonic distortion(when -20dB):0.1%(ASP OFF),0.32%(ASP ON)
- Pickup: semiconductor laser （1-bit DAC）
- Output: 150mVrms （0dB when 1.5V）
- Function: Anti-skip
- Play mode: REPEAT（1/ALL）, INTRO, SHUFFLE
- Power supply voltage: AC100V-120V 50/60Hz
- Power consumption: 6W
- Weight: Approximately 3.3kg
The TU-884CD replaces the TU-881CD player.
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteI was very interested to read your views/impressions on the Elekit TU884cd cd player. I have a Cayin TA30 intergrated tube amp and was wondering if you think this player would be a good match.
You don't mention how much you paid for the kit. I found one ready built in Hong Kong in HiFi shop (demo) for USD250 - does that seam resonable?
Have you had any reliability problems?
Many thanks,
Chris (New to the game of tube HiFi!)
Sorry Steve,
ReplyDeletenot sure how your blog site works, so here is my email as well
chrish@ngcasia.com
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI sent you an email, I cannot comment on the Cayin TA30 being a good match or not since I have no experience with that amplifier. Is it single ended and what driver and final tubes does it use.
$250 seems a reasonable price for a demo unit though.
Steve