I admired the player from the outset and was very optimistic about its performance but didn't love it until I found the right power cord. I am sure there are several that will work well. The player performed exceptionally well with the van den Hul Mainstream, which is ever so slightly warm. That warmth along with the breaking in of the Blackgates -- a capacitor notorious for breaking in slowly -- made a big difference in taking the player from something to admire and respect to something enjoyable, even lovable.


I mention this in part as a warning to potential purchasers, indeed to anyone who purchases anything with Blackgate capacitors. That Blackgates are good is not the issue. They are. How good and in comparison to what is not my concern here. Rather, the fact is that they take almost as long to break in as does a Lowther driver - maybe longer. Even more importantly, Blackgates cool down a lot more quickly than they warm up. Keep the player on at all times and don't judge the sound prematurely.


This brings me to tonality. The overall tonal color was ever so slightly warm, which I liked, especially since the warmth came at no cost in lost or blurred details. For those of you who have spent time with the wonderful if slightly idiosyncratic Audiomeca Mephisto CD player, the Exemplar has that kind of warmth but with appreciably more detail. As to the timbre of instruments, the Exemplar again proved exemplary. There was no confusing guitars for ukuleles, no confusing Michael Bloomfield's Telecaster for his Les Paul.


What mattered most at the end of the day was the overall coherence of the musical presentation. The level of detail was consistent from top to bottom. There was a seamlessness that seemed just right. Nothing was hyped up in any dimension. So many HiFi components hype up some aspect of the presentation as a way of drawing attention. Some preamps do it in the midrange; some speakers in the midbass or presence region. Many cables create a sparkle on top but are tipped up in the presence region. This is a familiar trick to create the impression of an expansive but artificial and unnatural soundscape. That's why they call these products hi-fi. They do not sound like music; indeed, music never sounds anything like - at least not on purpose! The Exemplar suffers from none of these faults and had a strong, authoritative bottom end that provided a constant foundation to the music.


Images were palpable and three-dimensional. The perspective on the performance was more first third of the hall than seems typical of CD players with tubed output stages. The net effect was a visceral and satisfying dynamic punch that made listening to the Who great fun and accounted for the unusual amount of time I spent with that particular disc.


It was only in comparison with the very best RedBook players that one could find anything to take even the slightest issue with. In comparison with the Reimyo, the Exemplar was ever so slightly less refined or subtle, ever so slightly less harmonically and dynamically developed. It was also less informative in the upper registers but like the Reimyo, presented high frequency information as integrated with the entirety of the sound and not as spot lit or otherwise highlighted. Lastly, the Exemplar has a narrower and less expansive soundstage than the Reimyo.


But let's get real for a minute. I am comparing a $4K universal player's CD performance with a $14K CD-only player that several of the most reliable reviewers rank as among the best if not the best in the world. Forget that 'best" stuff. The simple fact is that the Reimyo is exceptional. And if the Reimyo is exceptional, that makes the Exemplar simply extraordinary: Extraordinarily musical and an exceptional value [below in my NYC apartment with Gradient Revolution speakers and InnerSound's new top-line amplifier].


It's got some quirks of course
Unsurprisingly, the Exemplar is not perfect. There can be a fair amount of static in operation which then is not silky smooth. John Tucker confirmed that the noise and static are features of the Denon.


There also is a substantial difference in output voltage between CD and SACD/DVD-A modes. The 3-volt RedBook output created a slight interface problem with my very sensitive amplifiers and hornspeakers. While my preamplifier is transformer-coupled and not high-gain at all, the sound of CDs could be heard with the volume controls virtually muted. I know this is a plus for the passive preamp crew but I found it slightly annoying. Since John himself makes an active line stage, I know that he too could get along just fine with a bit less output from the player. Whether he accomplished that in future designs is another matter altogether.


It's still a Denon - or is it? It's just another mod - or is it?
It's not a Denon. It's an Exemplar built on a Denon foundation. It's not just a mod; it's a universal player that uses a lot of other companies' parts. To be sure, intelligent folks will look at this player in different ways and I'm in no position to offer an authoritative opinion on the matter. I can, however, tell you what I think about it and leave it to you to make up your own mind.


To me, the difference between a digital product from scratch and a modification is a matter of degree. Very few companies make their own transports. Very few companies make their own digital chipsets. The basic circuitry of most CD players -- their architecture if you will -- is remarkably similar. Very few companies and hardly any HighEnd companies are making players "from scratch" in any relevant sense.


In my view, John Tucker has simply taken advantage of the economies of scale available to a corporation like Denon and gotten a hold of a pretty good transport, a better than average chassis, a solid architecture, a very good basic chipset and a lot of room at a price that he could not begin to approximate on his own. He isn't taking advantage of Denon's design brilliance and adding to it. He is taking advantage of Denon's ability to buy and produce in low-cost bulk. He is building his own universal player on a foundation that is quite ubiquitous in the industry. It's everything he adds that is distinctive. I don't doubt that he could build a player from scratch. It's just that it would cost him a great deal more to do so, and the consumer would have to pay for that dearly. To me then, it's a real product that's more Tucker than Denon and thus no mere modification.


Alas, I don't control the used market. I cannot tell you how the market will respond should you purchase this player and someday put it up for sale on AudiogoN.

John Tucker may have begun his audio life in the DIY world - God knows he has done his fair share of modding. His name first came to my attention years ago when I was getting into horns and reading the Bottlehead forum on a daily basis. But he has since taken what he does to a different level. Exemplar Audio now is a full-time business that produces an amp and preamp of its own design and a speaker of potential significance. John Tucker is a designer in his own right and a very good one at that. He is prepared to test that by taking the big risk. He has a growing dealer network of 10 and intends to make a go of.


When you think of it, people who began their audio lives as DIYers make some of the best equipment in the world. While the Verdier table is surely among the world's best, JC Verdier began his life as a DIYer. And while there is little doubt that Shindo electronics are among the most sought-after, Ken Shindo began life in the early 1970s as a DIY guy. Have you ever read about a speaker manufacturer who began life by making speakers for himself and friends because he didn't like what he could buy commercially? It's actually hard to find a speaker designer this is not true of.


However, not everyone who goes from DIY to commercial venture succeeds. If the Denon/Exemplar player is any indication of what John Tucker is capable of, his should become one of the success stories. And I'll be happy to say, "I knew him when ..."


Two final thoughts.
First, the fact is that the Denon/Exemplar player still depends on Denon. If Denon stops making the 2900 as they most surely will, what will come of your Exemplar player? I have no doubt that John will design another player based on another foundation but that's not the issue. What will become of your player? Your Denon 2900? My suggestion is that John offer some sort of trade-in or upgrade route, a way of identifying the product as his whatever the vagaries of Denon's corporate decision making may be. Relatedly, the factory warranty is voided by John's overhaul. John thus offers his own one-year parts and 90-day tube warranties.


Second, I like to put my money where my mouth is - or at least in the approximate neighborhood. I said at the outset that the Denon/Exemplar saved my sanity. I meant it. I am waiting for the VRS for review. It should be in house by mid October. If it is the future of digital (or even part of that future), I surely will purchase it for my reference system - if I can afford to pay for a piece of the future. If not, I would be more than happy to own the Denon/Exemplar player and may find a way to do so no matter what. It fits in just fine with my system and I'd be happy to have it stay there. No apologies necessary.


If you look at this player as an expensive mod of an inexpensive player, you will be missing out on what is, in fact, an excellent universal player that takes the measure of RedBook-only players more than twice its price and universal players three times its price. Call it what you will but you owe it to yourself to hear one.
Exemplar  Audio replies:
I would like to thank 6moons and Jules Coleman in particular for the time and effort that went into the review of the Exemplar-modified Denon 2900. I appreciate the care and attention that went into the review which was thorough and fair. I am especially pleased that Jules liked the player as much as he did - so much so in fact that he has bought the review sample. As for the noise when starting a disc and jumping between tracks that Jules identified, this is an inherent problem with the Denon units. The Exemplar modifications increase the player's transparency considerably which has the effect of making the noise and static more apparent. As Jules correctly points out, the static has no impact on performance or sound and the player is dead quiet when a disc is being played. The only correction I would make to the review itself is a minor one regarding when I first became involved with Dennis Boyle, John Camille and Jeff Markwart. These relationships began while I was in Texas working at the Johnson Space Center and not in Washington as Jules's review may lead one to think. I was both honored and humbled by the Blue Moon award given this unit. It's very satisfying to see recognition of the approaches that John Camille and I worked on for so long. It's been an uphill battle to bring these technologies to the forefront of tubed audio but well worth it!

Thanks,
John Tucker
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