Well-identified for its portable music players and headphones, Shanling also has a whole Desktop range, in which CD players and transporters feature prominently at prices that are often contained, except for the unreasonable T35 (at $16 999).
Recently, the Zenith XST20 was added to the catalog, above all models except the T35. In a rigid black aluminum chassis built by CNC machine, this CD and SACD transport weighs a total of 5.2 kg and offers a 3.4-inch touchscreen front panel. Its Sanyo DH870 laser-reading mechanism is top-loading, with a transparent clamp on top. Powered by a 25 VA shielded toroidal transformer, this new Onix is not a player, in that it has no DAC, but just digital outputs like AES/EBU, optical, RCA and BNC coaxial, USB and I2S, the latter FPGA-assisted.
Supplied with remote control, the Zenith XST20 benefits from a high-precision clock and is content with the maximum resolutions of the discs it plays, i.e. PCM at 44.1 kHz for CDs and DSD64 for SACDs. It costs 2 090 € in Europe and 2 099 € in US.
21/08/2025
