Yamaha CDX-5000 (circa 1987)
The Yamaha CDX-5000 is documented almost entirely through the period press. It was a big enough flagship to get a full Equipment Profile in Audio magazine (January 1988, p.86). That review said $2,500 was a lot to spend on any player, but that the CDX-5000 offered new technology in return (p.95). The new technology was Yamaha's "Hi-Bit" system, which Audio described as two refinements to the standard 16-bit, 44.1 kHz CD format (p.87). One was a digital filter that raised the bit rate to 18 bits. The other was a set of "quasi-18-bit" D/A converters designed to reduce distortion and noise, particularly in low-level passages (p.90). High-Fidelity (June 1987, p.15) had reported on the same Hi-Bit approach. It explained that the bit-shifting meant the converters effectively worked with the full 18-bit output.
The surviving record also includes a complete set of manufacturer's specifications from that Audio profile:
- Frequency response: DC to 20 kHz, ±0.3 dB
- THD + noise: 0.002% at 1 kHz
- Dynamic range: 100 dB
- Signal-to-noise ratio: 115 dB
- Channel separation: 95 dB at 1 kHz
- Output voltage: 2.0 V rms
- Programmable selections: 24
- Dimensions: 17-1/8" W x 5-1/2" H x 16-1/4" D (43.5 cm x 14 cm x 41.3 cm)
- Weight: 46 lb 3 oz (19.6 kg)
Beyond these reviews, very little has surfaced. No service manual, promotional material or production figures have turned up in the archive's research, and the CDX-5000's exact place in Yamaha's late-1980s lineup remains unclear from the surviving record. What can be said with confidence is that it was Yamaha's flagship CD player at the time and carried a premium price.
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