Digital Drive: REVIEW: Creek CD53 CD Player/Recorder by Luminator

Model:	CD53
Category:	CD Player/Recorder
Suggested Retail Price:	$1500
Description:	single-box CD player
Manufacturer URL:	Creek

Review by Luminator on June 20, 2009 at 01:01:50
IP Address: 75.25.148.121 Add Your Review
for the CD53

On May 29, 2001, I posted the review of Creek's CD43mk2 CD player. Around the same time, Creek had come out with the more upscale CD53. With the CD53's balanced outputs, Creek were going into unfamiliar territory. But alas, this was the time when CD sales leveled off, and digital downloads gained in popularity. Consequently, CD players didn't sell well. And neither, to my knowledge, did the CD53 sell well, at least here in the U.S. But that shouldn't stop us from investigating it.

As with all of my modern reviews, you need to click on the links (below) to get the information. Then the rest of this post will make sense.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

So, back in 2001, the Creek CD53, with its compact dimensions, silver faceplate, Philips transport, and balanced outputs, seemed like the answer in a download world. Without having seen or heard it, I had my local dealer order one.

When it finally arrived, 9/11 struck, and I hunkered in my bedroom with the lil CD53. As the source of my headphone rig, the CD53, similar to the other Creek CD players I had, started off sounding rather small, bland, and uninvolving. It took a good 3-4 weeks of playing time, before it opened up, and showed its personality.

After throwing a wide variety of cables and tweaks at it, I found the CD53 to have a thin, fast, and clickety sound. I mean, just check out the way it churns out the kickdrum and basslines on Overkill's W.F.O.

I now have a medium-sized room. When I threw the CD53 in with the supremely transparent Jeff Rowland Criterion + 312 + Nordost Odin system, the CD53 fell flat. The CD53 just doesn't reproduce the wide soundscapes, and corporeal presence which are truly on the CD.

But in small rooms, the CD53's lack of fat and boom are just what the doctor ordered. And this goes hand-in-hand with the CD53's compact dimensions. If you are used to the average, run-of-the-mill audiophile CD player making everything sound warm, plush, boring, and bloated, you're going to love the CD53's tighter, snappier, more energetic sound.

vs. Meridian 508.24

Sorry, the Meridian 508.24's lovely, open, and clean sound makes the CD53 sound kind of flat and unrefined. For more than twice the price of the CD53, the 508.24 does give you better sound. When you play something like the Dan Hill/Vonda Shepard duet, "Can't We Try," the 508.24 will exhaust every breath you have.

vs. Wadia 781i

Sorry, the Wadia 781i possesses a top-notch pedigree. It simply sounds more realistically full-bodied than any other player I've tried. It confidently combines the emotion of the Simaudio Andromeda, the color of the Koetsu Jade Platinum, and the detail of the dCS Puccini. When the 781i plays Vanessa Williams' "Colors Of The Wind," it doesn't seem so cheap or cartoonish any more. And that is a musical revelation my words simply can't describe. And on the Prince-penned masterpiece by Sheena Easton, "Sugar Walls," it's just dripping with soul, wetness, and human sexuality. On the same song, the CD53 sounds like a high school girl fumbling and bumbling.

vs. dCS Puccini

No, the CD53 can't touch the dCS Puccini's detail retrieval. The CD53 is rougher, coarser, shallower, and nowhere near as open. But they both share a leaner, more "silvery" patina. My friend's analogy is that, if the Puccini is a playoff NHL team, then the CD53 is like that team's school-aged sons and daughters wearing the same uniforms, but in smaller sizes.

Be warned that the CD53's RCA jacks are tightly spaced, one on top of the other. If your interconnects have fat-barrel or locking RCAs, you'll have a difficult time. Which is too bad, because the CD53 does not "need" high-priced interconnects to strut its stuff. If you want/need more emphasis on the treble, try to squeeze in the Tara Labs Vector 1. A commonly-used interconnect for the CD53 is Kimber's Silver Streak-0147. If you want to cheat, and fatten up the sound, try to install any number of MIT interconnects.

If you like the CD53's basic sound, and want more of it, try the original XLO Signature 1.1. The Q-Audio Tao is another outstanding match, and so is Wireworld's Eclipse 6.

But something seemed to changed, when I paired the CD53 and Creek's own Destiny integrated amp. All of a sudden, the CD53 didn't come across as lean and skeletal. For whatever reason, the meat and flesh grew on the bone. In late 85 or early 86, I remember hearing on my Walkman, Sheena Easton's "Do It For Love," while I was walking through San Francisco's Japan Center. Except that, as the radio station didn't identify the song, I didn't know it was Easton. The CD53/Destiny combination moved "Do It For Love" right along, and I felt like it was 85/86 all over again!

Even when the worldwide economy was booming, no one could afford the dCS Puccini or Wadia 781i. So what are you going to do, now that the global economy has tanked? What are you going to do, if you're sick and tired of today's slow-operating and blah-sounding CD players? What if you lost your monster home, and now live in smaller digs? What if you just want to enjoy the CDs you already have? Seeking a Creek CD53 on the used market may well be worth your time and effort.

-Lummy The Seahorse

Product Weakness:	discontinued; low-level buzz; no elapsed disc time function; display loses luminosity over time; some CDs with lots of tracks can trip it up
Product Strengths:	compact dimensions; silver faceplate; decent ergonomics; sound is tailored for small rooms

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Creek Destiny integrated; Jeff Rowland 312; McCormack MID; Meridian 555
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Jeff Rowland Criterion; Meridian 502
Sources (CDP/Turntable): dCS Puccini; Meridian 508.24; Wadia 781i
Speakers: Sennheiser HD-600; Totem The One
Cables/Interconnects: Nordost Odin, Wireworld Platinum Eclipse
Music Used (Genre/Selections): pop, rock, oldies, Hawaiian, metal
Time Period/Length of Audition: 8 years
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Pranawire Kensho and Maha Samadhi
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner

Amplifier:	Creek Destiny integrated; Jeff Rowland 312; McCormack MID; Meridian 555
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Jeff Rowland Criterion; Meridian 502
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	dCS Puccini; Meridian 508.24; Wadia 781i
Speakers:	Sennheiser HD-600; Totem The One
Cables/Interconnects:	Nordost Odin, Wireworld Platinum Eclipse
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	pop, rock, oldies, Hawaiian, metal
Time Period/Length of Audition:	8 years
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Pranawire Kensho and Maha Samadhi
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner