Consonance
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Consonance's Droplet CDP3.1: the kidney-shaped CD player
Considering Consonance's reputation, we're not all that surprised that its latest CD player is shaped unorthodoxly, but mimicking the proportions of a kidney was an interesting choice. Nevertheless, the Droplet CDP3.1 is a 24-bit, oversampling top-loading player that features gold plated RCA outputs, a wireless remote and a digital buffer to eliminate jitter. It's available in a number of luscious finishes, but considering the $2,495 to $2,995 pricetag attached to this thing, we highly doubt you'll be picking this up solely for use as a conversation piece.
Opera Audio's Ping weds CD player, amplifier, and USB connectivity
These days, it's not often that a CD player makes you take a second glance, but Opera Audio's Forbidden City Ping is just one of those devices. The interestingly-styled box consists of a Linear Concept CD player meshed with a 100-watt Class A amplifier, AM / FM tuner, and a USB port for streaming tunes in from your PC. The "three-in-one" audio system also sports a 16-bit TDA1543 DAC and the ability to recover the current time from the USB port to display on the front-panel LCD. The Ping comes in black with your choice of red or silver accent plates, and while we're not sure of the asking price just yet, we'll go ahead and assume that this thing is more suited for the affluent set judging by the company's reputation.[Via AudioJunkies]
