SoundStage Reviews 2005

Model 5000 Signature

"...Closer to home for me is a comparison to SACD, which the Zanden DAC and transport invite. SACD's greatest triumph is that it doesn't sound like CD, which is to say that CD's identifying characteristics are pretty much banished. The same holds true for the Zanden combo, which begs the question, "Which is better?" My mind says it's a draw, but when I look at the pile of discs I've been listening to, I have to admit that the Zanden Model 5000 Signature and Model 2000 Premium have been monopolizing my time. I still think just as highly of the SACDs I own, especially when they are played on a top-flight player like the Esoteric X-01, but I can't deny that I've been listening to the Zanden DAC and transport more than the X-01. CD playback from the Esoteric player is among the very best I have heard, but the Model 5000 Signature and Model 2000 Premium are at another level -- statement, ne plus ultra, the best of the best. I never thought I would write this, especially in light of the review I wrote on the Esoteric X-01 last year, but given my tastes and the wide array of music I play, I am aware of no better digital source than the Zanden separates..."

Marc Mickelson, SoundStage!, April 2005

Model 2000

"...While I will never play every one of my 2000+ CDs on the Zanden Model 2000 Premium transport, I can't think of a better component for wresting the music from their pits. The ease and resolution of the Model 2000 Premium work together to produce music in all its meaning and glory. The CDs I played sounded both more honest and elegant, as individual sonic details took on a sense of greater intrinsic character and more lifelike splendor. So much of what is responsible for this is obscured by the Model 2000 Premium's gleaming chassis, but you should keep in mind the super-accurate word clock and I2S digital output. Both prove that Kazutoshi Yamada is a forward-thinking audio designer who embraces technology if it serves music. The technology integral to the Model 2000 Premium's design goes a long way toward producing the transport's unmatched sound...

When CDs can do this, who needs another medium?"

Marc Mickelson, SoundStage!, April 2005

SoundStage Reviews 2004

Model 5000 Signature

"If you want to hear what state-of-the-art CD playback sounds like, even as DVD-A and SACD are poised to replace the format (but have not succeeded) and enjoy your CD collection now as well as for years to come, one of the best ways to do this just got a tiny bit better. The Zanden Model 5000 Mk IV is still one of the very best DACs you can buy - still a Reviewers' Choice."

Doug Schneider, SoundStage!, April 2004

Model 5000

"... for about a year now I knew that the 5000 Mk II I'd reviewed wasn't Zanden's best offering anymore. About a year ago, designer Kazutoshi Yamada found ways to improve the noise performance of the 5000, and so a Mk III was born. Marc Mickelson, one who is equally adept at discerning world-class source components, reviewed that iteration and declared the Mk III every bit the winner the Mk II was. Like the Mk II, the Mk III was named a Reviewer's Choice product based on state-of-the-art performance, which kept it on the list in 2003..."

Doug Schneider, SoundStage!, December 2003

Model 5000

Zanden's advertising for the Model 5000 Mk III states that it's "probably the world's best DAC." Well, it's the best DAC I've heard -- no "probably" about it. If you can afford the Model 5000 Mk III and have a CD collection that will put it to good use, you should hear this gleaming jewel. The Model 5000 Mk II was a Reviewers' Choice last year, and so is the Mk III this year."

Mark Mickelson,SoundStage!, April 2003

SoundStage Reviews 2002

Model 5000

Based on Doug Schneider's earlier Reviewer's Choice nomination, the Zanden Audio Model 5000MkII DAC is recognized by the 2002 year-end SoundStage! Aesthetics & Sound Award.

The Model 5000 Mk II is what it is, and that's how it must be evaluated. And what it is is simply the best-sounding DAC for CD playback that I've heard. State of the art, sheer perfection, or whatever you want to call it, that's what the Model 5000 Mk II is. I can't complain one iota about its sound, and in this respect I don't wish for anything to be different. You certainly don't have to pay nearly this much for truly outstanding CD sound, but if you want what this DAC offers -- and that is darn near everything -- you have some thinking, and saving, to do."

Doug Schneider,SoundStage!, May 2002