S.M.S.L VMV PL100 CS43131 Chip CD Player (Silver)

Cheapaudioman sent me here. I have been looking for a REAL CD player for a decent price for a long time. I just wanted a quality player for revisiting my collection occasionally . Based on my research it has a quality DAC and sounds fantastic. I am by no means a audiophile ( thats a lot of money ) but I have a good ear for quality sound.Pros - its a solid piece, has weight for its size. Doesnt FEEL cheap- great sound quality and great price- multiple outputs- small size, quiet operation- it DOES support gapless playback...but in a weird way. If you want gaplass you cannot skip or rev / ff within thattrack. If you pop the CD in and let it play, then it will play gapless. Theres a you tube video out there thatdemonstrates this. This isnt a deal breaker because I literally do not have any CDs that I would play all the waythrough, theres always a bad track on any album to me. Even my favorite artists have them.- looks MUCH better in person. The black/grey blends in well with my system.Cons - remote feels cheap and range isnt very good- FF / REV tracking is a bit slow not very precise. MY old 90s Sony CDR carousel was more accurate when tryingto find a part of a song.

So far, I am quite pleased with this. It works well with and fits in with my kludged-together Amazon stereo components. I think the its other use-case would be using it solely to listen to CDs with headphones, like at a desk - that's not what I'm using it for but I suspect it would be great there.Some pros:- Sounds good / does its job- Seems reasonably well constructed - tray-less loading mechanism seems solid (time will tell)- Comes with a remote- Compact size / fits on my shelf vertically- Clear and bright info display (albeit a small one)- Coaxial, RCA, optical, and headphone outputs- Not as ugly in person as the photos on Amazon suggest- $105 USD purchase price (01/2025) seems right on target for item - get something better if the price goes up; snap it up under $100Some cons:- Must buy power supply separately- Headphone jack in back of unit- Very long shipping times from China - ordered in January, arrived in March. at one point seller offered to cancel due to being unable to fulfill the order, and "marked it shipped" to game Amazon despite not shipping it out. However, once it was shipped it arrived timely within a week or two.

I am a slow convert from decades of regular "big box" stereo components to dabbling in newer, smaller components ushered in by Wiim and others. Pictured is my office stereo set up with my Wiim Ultra, Parasound Zamp v.3 amp, Klipsch ProMedia Heritage 2.1 speakers (Subwoofer not pictured) and, the subject of this review, my new SMSL PL100 CD player.First of all, like others have noted, prepare for SLOW shipping - about 2 months in my case. I considered cancelling but now glad I did not. The PL100 is solid, weighty, and feels like quality from the first power on to the actual listening experience. The display is small but is high resolution and functional. The buttons lack older eye friendly labels but are easy to figure out with a few trials.The front panel is adorned with a few circle graphics reminding the user that CDs are this unit's domain: An unnecessary graphic cue in a unit that otherwise is utilitarian and pleasant to look at even when not actively spinning a disk. The unit itself delivers a solid listening experience from the time the confidence inspiring Philips slot mechanism pulls in your precious CD to the audio quality, which is outstanding (using the optical out to the Wiim Ultra in my case). I have not used the remote control but it appears to be of standard fare. The only miss is an auto-off function in these energy-mindful days.So overall, I am very pleased with my SMSL PL100 and particularly with the quality of the unit which exceeded my expectations at this price point. Shipping was slow but worth the wait...

The media could not be loaded. I waited nearly two months for this item to arrive, and unfortunately, it was a complete disappointment. Upon finally receiving it, I tested it with two different brand-new CDs. The device stays stuck on “reading” and never actually plays them. To confirm it wasn’t the discs, I tried them in my son’s $25 CD player — they played instantly with no issue.This product appears to be cheaply made, and it’s clear it was not properly tested before being shipped. Given that it shipped from China, I’m disappointed but sadly not surprised by the poor quality and lack of functionality. I’ve already requested a refund, and after waiting all this time, I’m left with nothing but frustration.Buyer beware.

The restocking time for the SMSL PL100 cd player was worth the wait. The player is smooth and quiet in operation, and has plenty of power to make the music sound great on my planar magnetic phones. The display is easy to read and the remote is simple and a pleasure to use. I thank you for the patience with my order during the two month wait for the product and also the status updates from both you and the manufacturer. Excellent service. Again thanks. Solar Bugman

A great bargain for the price. Seems solidly built, and works very well as a transport into an external DAC, which is how I'm using it.

No unnecessary frills. Compact. Excellent audio quality. I have two units.

Well i ordered it January 7th. Took for ever for Amazon and the Chinese shipper to believe it was lost... they sure could not track it.. near the end of February they shipped it again... arrived yesterday!!! It looks and feels great... seems to work very well with one day of use. It is smal but very substantial! Don't forget you need to have the right plug for power ... it does not come with one. 5/2.4 works. I think it looks cool... picture attached. Now let's hope it holds up... I have CD players around here working well more than 20 years after buying them... actually more like 30! Fingers crossed.