[Listening test] Exposure XM CD player

Exposure XM CD Player

Small in size but big in performance

Product: Exposure XM CD Player
Manufacturer: Exposure - UK
Price (here in Italy): €2300
Sample supplied by: ASM Distribuzione
Reviewer: Piero Canova - TNT-Audio Italy
Published: April 2025

Foreword

For some time now I have been finding articles that take for granted the death of the CD format as a system for storing and playing music. Many manufacturers are abandoning the format or drastically slowing down the release of new models. So why review a CD player now? From my point of view, I will give you two answers: first, we still tend to have many CDs and therefore a device that plays them well helps to re-evaluate those we may have hidden somewhere. Second, the format is out of fashion so we can buy cheap and build a nice collection for little money. Also, downloading files of comparable quality from the net takes time and they are not exactly free so this could be the right time to stock up on CDs to play with a good machine. Add to this, the Exposure brand has existed as a company since 1974 and therefore has a history of respectable excellence and we have all the elements for something interesting.

What are we talking about?

The CD player under test belongs to the XM family of the Exposure catalogue. These are small format devices, as their width is approximately half that of a normal device (218mm). In the same family there is a phono preamp, an integrated amplifier, a preamplifier, a mono power amplifier and a headphone amplifier - phono preamp - DAC and therefore you can build a very complete system in a small space. Some of the space saved in width is recovered in depth since it reaches 348mm but the visual impact from the front is of a very compact machine. The weight is 4Kg and therefore quite important for the dimensions.

[Exposure XM CD - top loading transport]

The first thing that catches the eye is the aesthetics and the CD loading. In a market where displays are becoming increasingly larger, more colorful and strictly touch, Exposure offers a slightly retro look with a very simple orange monochrome display. Instead of a motorised drawer, CDs are loaded into the top of the machine via a near full-width hatch which slides back to open, put in the CD and close the hatch. The CD is held by a magnetic clamping puck. This choice frees up the front and also saves the open/close button so, net of the power button on the left, with four buttons you can do everything.

The back is equally simple: two RCA connectors for the analogue output, a connector for the coaxial digital output and one for the optical output and an RCA socket for the power supply. That's it, simple and concise to do what is necessary without unnecessary frills. If the exterior is minimalist, the interior has a lot to tell. Many sophisticated solutions have been transferred from its 3510CD big brother:

An oversized toroidal transformer with separate windings for the digital and analog parts
Separate power supply for digital and analog sections
High stability clock to reduce jitter
Double-sided cards to optimize paths and reduce interference
Full aluminum case with high thickness extruded front to reduce resonances and (so they say) electromagnetic interference
The display can be turned off to improve playback quality.
24-bit PCM1716 DAC optimized to maximize signal resolution.

The last claim sounds very interesting to me and states that the product and its top-loading mechanism have been optimised to work as a CD transport and therefore we have two evaluations to make: how it works as a CD mechanism and whether the DAC mounted downstream is of adequate quality.

How it works

Luckily for me, at the moment the digital part of my system is based on a PS Audio Perfectwave transport connected to a Topping D90 SE DAC via a silver AES cable. It was enough to replace the AES/EBU connection with a coaxial one from the XM digital output and the comparison is ready.

Exposure XM as a pure CD transport: I connected the two transports to the Topping in turn and the result is almost super-imposable in the sense that the differences are truly imperceptible. Maybe I still prefer the PS Audio transport because it gives a little more body to the presentation but believe me, we are talking about nuances.
Exposure XM as a CD player vs. PS Audio + Topping: here the differences are clearly noticeable.
I'll try to summarize them below:
Virtual stage: Exposure wins in width, Topping in depth. The width of the Exposure scene is on par with my best results with pre phono and very very sophisticated and expensive cartridges. The size of the individual instruments is larger in the Topping and therefore there is more body, but the Exposure is more precise in positioning and spacing them.
Microdetail: Exposure wins by a narrow margin
Tonality: Topping is warmer and softer. Exposure is more open and precise.
Harmonic Content: Topping is a bit more realistic in giving each instrument the right harmonic complexity.
Exposure life: If you have a well-recorded piano CD, with Exposure you will clearly hear the hammers hitting the strings. PS Audio + Topping is a little less dynamic and lively.

Overall we are faced with two very good presentations but more than one listener told me they preferred the Exposure because it was more pleasant and lively. Now, if you compare the costs necessary to have the two systems you will see that the Exposure costs about a third of the PS Audio + Topping pair. I accept the objection that the new PS Audio mechanism is of a later generation than my transport, but even so the price difference is significant.

Complaints and improvements

I didn't even open the standard power supply cable because it seems to me to be of computer or TV quality. In a world where everyone now goes balanced, a pair of balanced output would have been nice. Even an AES/EBU and/or IIS/LVDS output would have been helpful because it is of little use to have excellent mechanics but have to use a connection that has substantial limits in terms of jitter.

I gained small improvements to the XM by using more sophisticated feet but got more significant improvements by putting a weight on the sliding door to absorb vibration. Obviously we don’t need to put on a lot of weight but if you want to do the test use a small plastic food tray and pour 50 maximum 100g of sand on the bottom. The focus and tone improve noticeably at practically zero cost.

Conclusions

I got a great impression from the test of the Exposure XM CD player: well designed, well built with great attention to the result rather than the show. The cost is starting to be important (€2300) but the result is certainly of an excellent level and justifies it. In the end, I contacted their Italian distributor (ASM Distribuzione whom I thank for the exquisite courtesy) and I asked to test their XM HP which acts as a DAC and headphone amplifier. Who knows, maybe it could be my next DAC.

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