PL200T

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea, LAiV Audio Harmony; Active filter: spl Audio Crossover MkII; Power amplifiers: Vinshine/Kinki Dazzle & mono Ncore 500 Nord Acoustic amps on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: 2 x Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps and source stack, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx; Subwoofer: Zu Method; Cable loom: Exact Express Earth; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, Akiko Audio Corelli Corundum & Castello Solo; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
2nd headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 workstation Win11/64; USB bridge: LHY UIP; Ethernet bridge: LHY EFI; Ethernet reclocker: Stack SmoothLAN; DACs: Audalytic DR701 & Gustard R26II; Headphone/preamp: FangSound Dionysus; Speaker amps: Topping B200 monos; Loudspeakers: Virtual Hifi Viper; Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000, FiiO FT7
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2nd upstairs speaker system: Source: FiiO R7; DAC/pre: COS D1; Amplifier: Kinki EX-M7; Loudspeakers: sound|kaos Vox3 with Dynaudio S18 subwoofer
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Mission; Subwoofer: Zu Mission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: €575.55 delivered

Oh bonsai, how I love thee! When I first arrived in L.A. with a suitcase and very little cash, I ended up renting a small sailboat moored in the Marina del Rey. Its owner had multiple bigger boats to which I stepped up over time as they became available though I never took one out. That wasn't part of the deal. Whilst I doubt that renting these to liveaboards was by the book, no authorities ever bothered me. And for my waterlord it offset slip fees whilst I had access to the shower/toilet facilities on land. With minimal space at my disposal, a manicured bonsai Juniper in blue crackle-lacquer porcelain sharing space with a mossy rock was my one splurge at decoration. Today I live in a 200m² single-dwelling house with a good-sized yard yet my appreciation for the art of bonsai remains. As such I've enjoyed assembling this maximally petite separates hifi for one of my upstairs rooms.

In this context Simon Lee's AIO here temporarily used as just a CD transport was obviously ridiculously outsized whilst bypassing its DAC, preamp and amp facilities made little sense. This was merely a stopgap. 

The self-imposed mandate was half-width silver components for relative pea- not coconuts. This inverted nearfield system begins with a Shanling EM7 music centre whose angled touchscreen accesses a 1TB microSD card of local files since my WiFi allergy means no hardwired Internet on the 2nd floor. In line-out so fixed mode, that feeds analog signal to a Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box II active crossover set to 120Hz/4th-order hi/lo-pass feeds whilst its remote-controlled master attenuator manages the system volume. The amps for the pert 4-inch isobaric and rear-ported MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini monitors in aluminium chassis are LAiV Audio Crescendo 120W GaNFet Chorus monos. The sub is a force-cancelling twin 9½" 18S from Dynaudio's pro not home division. The electronics sit on a low coffee table facing my listening/meditation couch.

129cm Ø for the ESD Acoustic Super Dragon's largest 17-140Hz horn. Bonsai tree tray 30cm. One wouldn't even work in my largest room, the other be fine in my bathroom.

When it came time to add the finishing touch of a bonsai CDT, I interrogated the usual suspects at FiiO, Moondrop and Shanling/Onix/YBA. I wanted a top loader without hinge. I wanted a cover that wasn't glass but acrylic to better survive an unintentional drop. Clatter not shatter. With the Shanling's DAC very capable already, I just wanted a transport with coaxial output. That parked John Darko's beloved Dunu Concept R in the wrong part of town. Half width was key given my bonsai scheme. So was a proper aluminium build and tempered glass display to maintain my established theme of material quality; and a silver skin to match my own paleness and that of the rest of my band. My perfect candidate emerged with Shenzen's smsl aka Foshan ShuangMuSanLin Technology Co. Ltd. founded in 2009. Its ability to read MQA CD merely irritates my throat. Cough. But being able to play a regular CD without the transparent lid seated—simply hold down the 'play' command for two seconds—is a nice extra. Just don't loose the small spindle puck. A plastic wand for remote control includes. Et voilà, my prep for the apocalypse now that CD is truly undead whilst hardware to play it back on has turned into a potent zombie army. There's the Mongol contingent of Eversolo, FiiO, Dunu, Gustard, Jay's, Moondrop, Shanling, smls, Tonewinner & Co. To them add the offshore forces of—deep breath!—Accuphase, Ancient, Arcam, Atoll, Audio Analogue, Audiolab, Audionet, Audio Note, Boulder, Burmester, Cambridge, CEC, Chord, CH Precision, Cyrus, dcs, Denon/Marantz, Esoteric/Teac, Gold Note, Gryphon, Hegel, Linn, Luxman, mbl, msb, Métronome/Kalista, Michi/Rotel, Mission, NAD, Pro-Ject, PS Audio, Quad, Roksan, Simon Audio Lab, Soulution, T+A, Technics, Wadax & Yamaha. That, phew, was far from a complete list. But clearly, this broad field is played from a few hundred banal bob up to mid 5-figure precious pop. Never trust an obituary proclaiming the death of an audio format?

Here's a trick question. Since Esoteric discontinued OEM licenses for their VRDS transports as did Denon/Marantz for their production at Shirakawa Audio Works whilst Sony abandoned audio lasers altogether, are Austria's Stream Unlimited the only supplier left to specialize in transport mechs dedicated to upscale audio rather than video or computing? If so, what transports do all of today's more affordable CD players and standalone transports use? They're clearly not zombies so drive something other than a virus. My best bet would be Sanyo/Panasonic but perhaps there are mainland China factories too which still produce unbranded mechanics for OEM clients. With smsl's transport, the servo and vibration damper are in-house developments of a claimed 2 years R&D. The 10MHz clock input on BNC winks at ComplexiFi where more boxes equal more pride 'n' joy. smsl have their own $529 G1 masterclock sized and styled to match the transport. The latter even rocks a mini mouse piano not by way of usual dip switches but smsl's "piano keys", these concealed blue switches lifted from mechanical keyboards. They trigger with the four chassis buttons next to the central controller. Knob feel has become a thing. How about sexy switch sense? If we misplace our remote, reliable access to a disc spinner's basic functions of play/pause, stop and last/next is key. By exploiting long-lived switches designed for the incessant use of keyboard ninjas, even here the PL200T seems a cut above its ask.

There are two alternate power options of 5V/1A DC and an equivalent USB power port. I'd use the generic 100-240V IEC. Power consumption is a chill 15W. My tape measure would spot 20cm width, 17.5cm depth and just 4.2cm height including footers. My scale would whisper 1.62kg or ¼ stone in Imperial metric – all of it beautiful bonsai bravado where less is more and smaller stands taller. Ditto a 1/6th ask of YBA's stylish YT302 which in trade adds SACD support of no personal use. That gave the PL200T my vote. To be sure, I neither expected nor wanted a flash full-colour touchscreen display. Their sort can't fly a CD's cover without Internet access. And even being online they routinely fail to pull up the correct artwork using the track meta data. Plus when one spins CD, one already has larger cover art.

I didn't want the clutter of chassis-mounted direct track-access buttons either. That's what this smsl remote packs separately. [For a twice-sized view of it, click the image.] Any track beyond 9 selects intuitively by pressing, say 1 then 2 for 12. Aside from the typical repeat 1/all options there's random/shuffle play; all the conventional time displays; a 5-60s screen blackout; and six brightness levels. Bonsai for boffo not bare-boned. Would it all look, feel and sound as good in person as it did on paper 'n' pixels?

What I felt sure of well prior to the deck's arrival was that in 2026, the crafty descendants of Genghis Khan have built up quite the phalanx of well-styled/built SA/CD players and transports that sell for happy not hapless coin. Consider the above €1'848 transportable YBA Design One SACD player with AK4497S DAC and headfi, coax and USB-C digital outputs plus twin 21700 batteries for off-grid tunes on the porch or balcony. Does China love CD? It sure seems like it. As to the heli pad for the inbound smls, it'd touch down in front of the right LAiV Crescendo Chorus mono above. It'd be my bonsai buffet doing CD, hi-rez files, Susvara-level HeadFi, active electronic filtering and 2.1 widebander SpeakerFi all at a surprisingly high level.

… to be continued…