Philips LHH1000 CD Player

Though one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world, Philips until recently has been content to hide its American face behind a bevy of other brand names: Magnavox, Sylvania, and Philco (all originally US companies but now part of the Philips empire). Audiophiles will be most familiar with the company's inexpensive Magnavox CD players, but when Philips decided to move up market with their audio products, they decided to launch the Philips brand here in the US with a range of CD players, a CD-Video player, a number of integrated amplifiers and receivers, a cassette deck, and two loudspeakers.

The LHH1000, which was launched at the recent Las Vegas CES, represents the top of that new Philips line. Made in Japan by the Philips-owned company that manufactures much of the product sold under the Marantz brand (footnote 1), the LHH1000 is a two-box CD player

Externally, the LHH1000 came as a bit of a surprise to these jaded eyes, over-familiar with plain black or brushed-aluminum boxes. Each enclosure is finished in an almost white, anodized finish, with greenish-gray endcaps (made from zinc alloy, I believe) painted with a nubbly, crackle finish—an attractively utilitarian styling with shades of military-surplus radio equipment, nicely set off by subdued blue fluorescent readouts. Internally, the units are constructed to audiophile standards. The transport uses Philips's top CDM-1 mechanism, which is fabricated from diecast aluminum, compared with the plastic CDM-4 mechanism which appears in less expensive and less well-specified players. The loading tray, too, which is made from metal, has a reassuringly solid feel to it.

The only obvious front-panel controls are Play, Stop, and Track Select (forward and back). A swing-down front-panel carries all the programming controls—including Philips's Favorite Track Selection—and less-often-used playback controls (although I do feel that Pause should be on the main panel). However, as with most CD players, all commands will be most often used from the remote control. The player is fitted with one optical and two coaxial outputs, each carrying the standard, multiplexed-stereo, serial data stream. An adaptor is provided to enable the LHH1001 to play 3" CD singles.