Denon DCD-3300 (c. 1987)

Name: Denon DCD-3300
Brand: Denon

Not much information survives on the Denon DCD-3300, but what does is good. HiFI-Stereo ran a full test report in May 1987 (p.30). The reviewers found a well-behaved machine. The fixed outputs delivered almost exactly 2 volts, with a channel imbalance of only 0.18 dB. The headphone output was unusually strong, at 8.1 volts into a 600-ohm load at clipping. A gapless transition between two adjacent tracks on the test disc was handled perfectly. The report called the feature set nearly complete, lacking only a few conveniences they didn't bother to name.

The DCD-3300 was built with real attention to vibration control. The laser pickup assembly sat on a subchassis made of Bulk Molding Compound, a glass-filled, ceramic-like material. The player stood on large solid brass isolating feet (HiFI-Stereo, May 1987, p.28). It was only moderately large but surprisingly heavy. It had both fixed and variable output jacks, and the display could show the next track number, the numbers of unplayed tracks, and elapsed time in the current track.

The rest of the record is fragmentary. High Fidelity (April 1987, p.47) listed the DCD-3300 among the CD players of the moment, in a roundup that also included the Magnavox CDB-465 and Kenwood DP-3300D. Denon's own advertising in Audio (November 1987, p.23) used the model to argue that Denon's digital heritage, reaching back to the DN-023R studio recorder, ran strongest in its CD players. That is a period marketing claim, not an independent verdict. By June 1989, one HiFI-Stereo system feature still showed a DCD-3300 in daily use, with its variable outputs feeding an amplifier directly and bypassing the preamp (HiFI-Stereo, June 1989, p.85).

Known from the May 1987 HiFI-Stereo test:

Fixed output: ≈2 V, channel imbalance 0.18 dB
Headphone output: 8.1 V into 600 ohms at clipping
Transport: laser pickup on a Bulk Molding Compound subchassis; solid brass isolating feet
Outputs: fixed and variable line-level