AH! Tjoeb `99-CD Player.(Evaluation)

Distributor: Upscale Audio, 2504 Spring Terrace, Upland, CA 91784; 909/931-9686; www.upscaleaudio.com

Price: $450. Available options: AH! AC Noise Killer $20, AH! SuperCrystal $50, RCA Digital Output $20. Price as tested: $540.

Source: Distributor Loan

Reviewer: Tom Lyle

"Tjoeb" is Dutch for "tube" (the "j" is silent). The Dutch pronounce "AH!" as "ah-ha." So, all together now: "Ah-ha! Toob ninety-nine." The player is a modified Marantz CD-38 that is manufactured in the Far East, designed and modified in Holland. The CD-38 is a budget player not imported into the USA. I would dare say that this player has been extremely modified, because upon opening the cover of the unit it looks like practically the only things that remain are the transport, display, and cabinet. In actuality, that's not quite true, but almost. The transport used in the CD-38 is a model Philips CDM 12.3 (Marantz is a division of the Dutch conglomerate Philips). The newer models have the Philips VAM transport, which is the same except it will play CD-Rs. The literature from their distributor claims that this is a resonance-free, linear trace laser with a Digital Servo Drive (their capitalization) for "accurate, reliable, operation and rapid track access." But then the fun starts.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

They take the standard op-amp and upgrade it to "the best available" Burr-Brown and make it only responsible for I-U (voltage and current) conversion. They add an extra circuit board to the output stage with two military grade Philips 6922 tubes. The added output stage has its own power supply, which is designed in England. They also remove the standard transistorized muting circuit (they say it has a "negative sonic impact") and install a relay-based muting circuit. Teflon hook-up cable, 2% silver solder, and gold RCA jacks are substituted for the stock parts in key areas. Also, to compensate for preamps that may have too much gain or be susceptible to overload, the unit's output on the player's tube board can be lowered. Conversely, if one wants to use this CD player to drive a preamp with very low gain or use the player passively, the gain can be raised to as much as 4 volts.