Second Hand HiFi, Arcam DV135

As you know, this blog's main reason for existence is to write about my journey through HiFi, along with music reviews and product reviews.
One of the objectives is to illustrate that music enjoyment using good quality equipment, does not have to break the bank.  As I have owned an Arcam A85 integrated amplifier for some time, I was looking to complement that with a good quality CD player.
However, I also have some DVD's, and my wife doesn't appreciate equipment as I do, so a compromise needed to be found in a multidisc player that complements the A85 nicely. Enter the DV135.
The ARCAM DV135 has been around since late 2007 and the reviews it received at the time all ranged from good to very good. It was praised time and time again for it's excellent music reproduction, only falling short when compared to dedicated CD players of a similar cost. The DV135 plays DVD's , CD's and SACD's amongst others which is all I need. It also has an HDMI  output which means it connects up easily to most modern TV's.  It doesn't transmit surround sound in a digital format via that port, but for my uses that is not needed. I don't own a surround system, and have no interest in one either.

Playing a few well known CD's immediately showed a nice improvement in music playback, certainly when compared to my Sony DVD player, which was always a stop gap measure.
The sound quality of the DV135 is neutral to warm, with a very good soundstage and separation between instruments. Only the trickiest of recordings loose a little in that respect, but many CD players do too.

You would do yourself a favour to do a bit of research, find which equipment had good reviews, see what you like, and find them secondhand, if you can live with not having the latest and greatest.  I dare to wager that my system can still keep up with some of the newer stuff being released now, for a fraction of the price. I paid very little for mine, but it came without a remote. I personally don't miss that, and there are universal remote controls out there that I an substitute if I ever feel the desire.