Dear Music Lovers,
The 1980s were arguably the dawn of a Golden Age for analog. Vinyl playback advancements were in full bloom. Yet many audiophiles and audio manufacturers rushed headlong to embrace the next big thing - the Compact Disc.

Déja vu. Yogi Berra said it best. "It's déja vu all over again." Today, advances in CD playback finally reveal the potential for a CD playback Golden Age. So what are we doing?

Chasing after the next big thing - so-called "Hi-Rez" digital formats. Upsampling. Over-sampling. 1 bit. SACD. DVD-A. Confusion reigns.

"Old technology" breakthrough? Recently, I'd seen a coupe of rave reviews for a Japanese digital-to-analog converter - the Zanden Audio Model 5000 DAC.

It had no up-sampling, no over-sampling, not even a digital filter! It didn't play the "Hi-Rez" formats. Worse, it had no filter selections, and it used tubes!

So I didn't take it seriously. After all, I had a fire-wired, up-sampled, CD/SACD top-rated digital system with transport, upsampler, and DAC.

But then, almost by coincidence, I ended up having the new version of the "old technology" Zanden DAC in my system for a few weeks. And that's when my tidy digital world became undone.

A new Golden Age! I didn't think it was possible. Not only were my favorite CDs (previously upsampled to DSD) suddenly far more involving, even SACDs didn't touch their equivalent CD versions! My "reference" digital system now sounded mechanical and compressed.

Would you make the same mistake twice?

Not only was the Zanden's sound more lively, it was more direct. Intensely involving. Only top-flight analog had been so seductive in my experience.

Returning to several highly reviewed digital systems I had on hand, I was shocked to hear the music's flow suddenly dry up. Detail was still good. Tonal qualities were still good. But the excitement was gone. Plain and boring!

Why? Part of it is Zanden's rejection of gee-whiz filters. Less phase errors. Less complexity. It's more detailed, more alive, and more tonally correct. Much more musically communicative. I promise, you'll discover new treasures in your existing CD collection.

And it's probably no coincidence that the analog Zanden 1200 Phono Stage is a Stereophile Class 'A' component. It does for analog exactly what the Model 5000 now does for digital.

Where? There are only a select few dealers. Contact me for the nearest one to you, and receive our widely acclaimed 31 Secrets to Better Sound, FREE.

Visit our Zanden-USA website for more details or return to our main menu. For review excerpts, awards and pricing info, see below.

Suggested US Retail Pricing as of April, 2004

US $12,970 Model 1000 - MM stereo phono amp
US $12,970 Model 1100 - SP&LP mono amp
US $13,970 Model 1200 - MC stereo phono Amp
US $9,970 Model 5000 MK IV - 16bit digital-to-analog converter (limited quantity)
US $14,970 Model 5000 Signature - 16bit digital-to-analog converter (I-squared-S clock link, polarity switch)
US $16,970 Model 7000 - 300B SET stereo amplifier
US $16,970 Model 7000 - 845 SET stereo amplifier
US $33,970/pr Model 9000 - 300B push-pull mono amplifiers
US $39,970/pr Model 9500 - 845 push-pull high power mono amplifiers
US $24,970 Model 2000 P - premium CD transport with ultra clock I-squared-S output for vanishingly low jitter
US $17,970 Model 2000 ST - standard CD transport
"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
"... 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
Publisher's Choice Award in the Digital-to-Analogue Converter Category: Zanden Model 5000 Mk III ($10,000)

The Zanden Model 5000 Mk III is such an excellent sounding D/A converter that it actually reduced my reference CD player, the Electrocompaniet EMC-1, into a mere transport (albeit an excellent one). I don't know if mere

words can explain my gratitude to Mr. Yamada for making electronics in the manner in which he does. I've waited for this product a long time and finally I hear what everyone whose heard these tube dacs is talking about. In terms of analogue sounding digital, this is as close as I've heard.

Clement Perry, StereoTimes, December 2003
Meditating which component to bestow this special recognition on if, like the Highlander, there could only be one proved easier than expected: Yamada-San's Zanden Audio Model 5000 Mk. IV DAC. This expensive jewel combines non-oversampling, non-upsampling D/A conversion by way of a Philips Double-Crown chip last made in 1985, a valved power supply/output stage and a patented analog reconstruction filter claimed to be far more phase-linear than conventionally employed variants. It's been my source component of choice ever since my original review.

Two veteran audiophiles whose hearing I trust have added further context, by comparing the Model 5000 with their latest Meitner and dCS components. They prefer listening to this rare discovery from Japan which combines seemingly outdated chip sets with cutting-edge analogue-domain inventiveness. And it appears that things are about to get better yet. Yamada-San has announced the imminent launch of his own transport and promises groundbreaking, patent-pending reclocking technology said to go beyond Esoteric's $15,000 luxury spinner. While priced to remain an exclusive product aimed at convincing vinyl lovers to embrace digital without reservation, this Zanden DAC is the most outstanding cost-no-object example of unconventional thinking, top performance and unassailable build quality I've encountered in 2003. Bravo to Yamada-San and the makers of all components listed in this, our first year-end roundtable poll culled from 6moons' growing stable of writers.

Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com, December 2003
"With its team efforts by the L.A.S.T. Factory's Lindsay cables; Mark Hampton's Z-Cables and Z-Sleeves; and two of Chris Hoff's BPT BP-3.5 Signature balanced power isolators; the AUDIOPAX room at CES 2004 also collaborated with Kazutoshi Yamada of Japanese Zanden Audio fame by using his SOTA digital front end duo: The brand-new Model 2000 RedBook transport and his well-known valve-powered Model 5000 MkIV DAC. My recently published show report singled out this room as personal "Favorite of Show". As fortunes would have it, I was gifted with the world's first review opportunity for Yamada-San's new transport and offered to take the actual show sample home to test it with my own Zanden DAC. As of a few days ago, Zanden Audio's Japanese patent for the DAC's proprietary analog reconstruction filter has been granted its equivalent US patent."

Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com, January 2004
"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! awarded today's review subject not only a Reviewer's Choice but the 2002 year-end Aesthetics & Sound award. After laying eyes and ears on this DAC myself, I have to concur. On both counts. Amen, brother... Out of reach for most mere mortals but a final destination for the next sixty few willing to shoulder the expense and intent of owning one of the best DACs extant. Hence, a Blue Moon Award is in order, albeit not for value but strictly Himalayan performance and unassailable build quality."

Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com, March 2003
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
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