I have a Beogram CDX and am completely delighted with it. However I see posts regarding the Beogram 4500, which looks similar but by all accounts is much superior to the CDX. Is this true?

And if so, what is the ultimate Bang & Olufsen CD player?

Jeff

Well, my CDX hasn't arrived yet, but I have listened to the machine it is based on, the Philips CD-104.  This is a 14 bit machine, and has a very 'analogue' sound that sounds great though older stuff.  They are a very solid and dependable mechanism, with laser failure almost unheard of.

 The CD4500, (which I owned last year) is a newer player in terms of 16 bit resolution, and the fact it has datalink so can be controlled remotely and via a suitable Beomaster. Sound-wise it is more open and airy, but not necessarily better.  A lot depends on what the rest of your system is, after all.

For me at least the CDX looks flashier in terms of that loading mechanism, but the CD4500 has the advantage of wall mounting, and also looks FABULOUS as part of a Beosystem 4500.

Hope this help a little
 

Had both and found the 4500 very neat but without a Datalink system it is not as useful. The CDX works with anything!

The CD4500 can sound fantastic - it is supposed to have a TDA1541 DAC but some have a TDA1541A which is supposed to be superior.  The CD5500 is better still as it does have a slightly different architecture.

I can only vote for the CDX. It sounds very good despite the Phillips connection and age. The sound is not as shrill or highend and even high end hardrock like Motorhead sounds great.  Very simple to use and easy to connect to anything. I don't miss Datalink on it.

Mine is used with a Beolab 8000 system with Beogram 8002, Beocord 9000 and Beomaster 8000 using Beovox M150. It's hard to find the best sounding unit but the CDX compares greatly here.

I have no regret spending the money on getting it repaired. It pays well.