Most of us like our music. It can make us smile, and help
relieve stress. But as many car radios are now skipping the CD player, it can
be harder to listen to some of your favorite tunes. Onkyo can still help. Up
for review is their Icon C-30 CD player. MSRP is $399.00.
Features and specs:
FREQUENCY RESPONSE 4 Hz-20 kHz/+5 dB, -5 dB
THD (TOTAL
HARMONICDISTORTION) 0.0040%.
SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO 105dB
AUDIO DYNAMIC RANGE 100dB
AUDIO OUTPUT/IMPEDANCE
Optical -22dBm
COAX 0.5 Vp-p/ 75 ohms
POWER CONSUMPTION 12W
PRODUCT DIMENSIONS (W X HX D) 17.1” (435mm) x 3.9” (101mm) x
12” (306mm)
WEIGHT 5.3kg
CARTON DIMENTIONS (W X H X D) 21.9” (555mm) x 7.7” (195mm) x
16.3” (415mm)
CARTON WEIGHT 7.2kg
SUPPLIED ACCESSORIES Instruction manual, RCA audio cable,
Remote controller, AAA (R03) batteries x 2
The Onkyo Icon C-30 came in a standard but very solid
cardboard box. Opening the box revealed a well-protected CD player held in
place by custom molded Styrofoam. Materials used in the construction was mostly
metal. Quality of materials used, as well as fit and finish, was excellent.
Also included was the remote, RCA cable, and manual.
Times are changing. Streaming services for music has really
gotten huge over the last decade. And it keeps growing even bigger. This turn
to streaming has affected other formats like CD. This has created a shift away
from CD and this shift away from CD has also caused a move away from CD’s in
car audio. Manufacturers are moving away from them, and car mechless receivers
are the new future.
The problem is there are still those that love their CD’s.
After all, consumers still own millions of CD’s. Unfortunately it is getting
harder to find a CD player. Thankfully
some CD players are still available. And Onkyo is to the rescue with their Onkyo
Icon C-30 CD Player.
I love the design of the Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player. They’re
doing things right. Onkyo uses their proprietary VCSC technology with high
precision + or – 10 PPM clock. The VLSC (Vector Linear Shaping Circuit) removes
pulse noise from the signal. And the vibration resistant aluminum front panel
reduces resonance. On the back are hi-fi grade RCA optical and digital coaxial
outputs.
The build quality is also very good. The metal construction
is solid. And the same is true for the rear connections. The elegant look of
the brushed aluminum front panel is a nice touch. The remote is also really
easy to hold, with buttons that are well laid out. The result is a remote that
is well functional.
All of this translates to creating a clean, distortion free
signal. It’s the kind of signal to reveal all of the details and resolution in
your songs that you have enjoyed for years. Which makes sense why it’s part of
their Icon Series. The Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player is the type of product that
you expect from Onkyo. Now, let’s see how it sounds.
Jackson 5 – I want You Back: Electric Bass was nice and smooth with good
funk. Piano sounded natural. Cymbals were really crisp and clean with great
resolution of the stick and its decay. Snare drum had great dynamics as well as
great definition. The Congo drums had excellent texture of the impact of the
pad and tone. And Michael’s vocals were silky smooth with excellent texture of
the timbre and harmonics. Tambourine was also really crisp and clean. Imaging
was on a dime, with a soundstage was both with wide and deep with great
forwardness as well.
Fresh Aire IV – Come Home to the Sea: the waves breaking on the beach sounded
extremely life-like. Piano sounded very natural with great harmonics and
excellent resolution being able to hear the decay of the strings. The recorder
was very smooth with excellent air. The violins were extremely smooth providing
great resolution of the bows across the strings. The trombone was very rich
with great tone without being too brassy. The triangle was incredible crisp and
clean. Trumpets were also really rich with excellent tone and harmonics. Snare
drum had excellent dynamics and texture of the pad. The harp also had excellent
texture from the plucking of the strings. The imaging was excellent. So many
instruments, yet they were resolved very well, including their location in the
soundstage, which was so wide, deep, and forward, it boarderlined on holographic.
Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline: trumpet was nice and smooth with great
harmonics. Trombone was rich with excellent tone without being too brassy.
Snare drum was very dynamic with excellent resolution of the sticks tapping on
the edge of the snare. Cymbals were really crisp with great resolution to hear
the decay. Strings were also really smooth with nice texture of the bow across
the strings. And they were all resolved extremely well across a massive
soundstage that was both wide and deep. With excellent imaging for all of the
instruments. And Neil’s vocals came out more crystal clear than I have ever
heard them before. They were smooth as honey with excellent texture of the
timbre.
With so many CD’s to pick from, I wanted to bring out some
old classics from a few different genre. And the Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player
performed in spades. While I was expecting it to provide all of the details
possible from the CD, it actually sounded better then I was expecting. It also
didn’t have a problem playing an anime themed music CD from Japan that my
daughter had. Also as expected, the remote worked great. I liked being able to
use the dimmer for the display.
While there are those that may think that the CD is dead,
there are still millions of CD’s that many still want to be able to play. It’s
nice to know that Onkyo has a great CD player to take care of that need. It’s
also a very well-made player that is built to not only last for many years, it
will sound great doing it. Based on its design, features, quality, and
performance, the Onkyo Icon C-30 CD Player has earned our Editor’s Choice
Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.onkyo.com.
