In July 2001 Plinius Director of Design, Ross Stevens, presented them with a piece of bent aluminium. This, he said, is how PLINIUS will look in the future.
At the time they had no real idea where this journey would take them but as time moved on and new amplifiers evolved Plinius realised that they had created something very special.
The new PLINIUS look has been very well received by the Audio Public but the distinctive curves have created a gap. Very quickly they found that a source component was needed to match. Plinius didn't really want to develop a CD Player as there are many very competent designs available but they were unable to withstand the constant pressure from their customers.
In true PLINIUS tradition they have approached the development of the CD Player from a different angle. They have always felt that the potential of Redbook CD has held promise but has been short on delivery. In their research they have listened long and hard to SACD and other formats but have elected to stick with Redbook because of the results achieved and to support the extensive CD collections that Plinius customers already have.
DAC development was time consuming. An initial false start using some of the latest technology (asynchronous upsampling, and bitstream conversion) lead to a disappointing sonic result. Plinius then re-thought and developed a DAC following a very conservative path. Noting the DIY enthusiast's endorsement of simple solutions, and with their general philosophy of avoiding unnecessary complexity, they evaluated a DAC design that used simple synchronous oversampling, and a multibit DAC. This needed no additional analogue filtering, and was in keeping with Plinius' like of simplicity. The outcome was more than expected. This design, coupled with a low jitter master clock feeding the transport, has delivered Redbook CD performance that surpasses that which has previously been heard.
Physically the PLINIUS CD101 matches the range of Integrated, Pre and Power Amplifiers. The operational styling of the CD101 has only one control button on the front panel with all other functions driven from the distinctive remote control. The remote control also has some basic functions allowing volume and mute adjustment on PLINIUS Pre and Integrated Amplifiers. Plinius put much effort into understanding the interface requirements, and decided that as music is the goal, the interface should distract as little as possible. Considering the user interaction with vinyl replay, where there are no digital track-time-elapsed displays, and the focus is on just listening to music, they decided to make the user interaction with the CD101 similar. The display consists of a series of micro LEDs showing the progress of the tracks through the disc. This is simple, elegant, and directs the listener's focus to the music and away from the technology.
The mechanical design has also seen much effort go into ensuring the transport is isolated, and the chassis is well damped. They have developed a substantial tray support and bearing system, and applied damping material and compliance where necessary. The build quality is beyond reproach.
As with other PLINIUS products it is the music that matters most. The CD101 is a worthy addition to our range.
Specifications
Conversion: 24-bits 353kHz.
Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz �0.2dB.
Distortion: <0.01% THD at rated input level.
Hum & Noise: -100dB at rated input level, A Weighted.
Maximum Output Level: 2V RMS into 10kohms or higher.
Output Source Impedance: Typically 100ohms
Digital Output Impedance: 75ohms
Dimensions: Height 105mm (4"), Width 450mm (17.75"), Depth 400mm (15.75"), Weight 10kg (22lb).
