CES 2016

Epos and Creek

Herb Reichert  |  Jan 13, 2016

Roy Hall, the master of the "wee dram" (of single-malt Scotch) was demonstrating all this Creek wonderfulness with the Epos K3, three-way, floorstanding loudspeakers ($2395/pair) which, like the Creek gear that he distributes in the US, showcased beauty, charm, fine detail, and of course: a wee bit of drunken revelry.

Creek introduced a new CD player! Yes, a new CD player. This makes me extremely happy because I have been waiting for a new CD player to review—so I can discuss some of the important issues surrounding collecting and archiving music.

The $1995 Creek 100A DAC/CD player looks like a perfect match for Creek's 50A or 100A integrated amps. (There is a 50CD player as well at $1495.) When I reviewed the Creek 100A integrated, I found it to be supremely musical-sounding—perfect for playing my blues, bluegrass, and solo-piano box sets.

My 100A review sample came equipped with an optional DAC which did an exceptional job at preserving the color, texture and liveliness of my entire CD collection, but now, I think I might choose to omit the DAC option and go with this new DAC-CD player which, in addition to playing CDs, offers the ability to input multiple external digital signals; including 24-bit/192kHz USB. Long live silver discs!

COMMENTS
JCM's picture
Submitted by JCM on January 13, 2016 - 10:53am

the epos k3 has a paint finish. the m16i and m22i had really nice real wood veneer finish. Why has epos gotten so cheap. how does the k3 sound compared to the elan 35 and the m16i(which stereophile reviewed)? will stereophile review the epos k3?

JUNO-106's picture
Submitted by JUNO-106 on January 13, 2016 - 11:46am

I'm not even a vinyl guy and I'm cringing seeing that LP sitting out there naked in that picture!

bdaddy60's picture
Submitted by bdaddy60 on January 13, 2016 - 2:23pm

It really is a welcomed relief to see some new CD players priced this side of common sense...many have not thrown away large CD collections for streaming / hi-res downloads/ vinyl again/ yet those formats have been so dominant that one might wonder when the great CD resurgence would mimic the vinyl formats recent history....that said Creek is a trusted purveyor of great sounding products and I will certainly watch for these products at my local dealer...

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