Eversolo Play CD Edition

ALL-IN-ONE STREAMING PLAYER

- ROGIER VAN BAKEL

The all-in-one stereo component occupies the same territory as those Italian restaurants that also serve sushi and Texas barbecue.

Every instinct says it’s a dubious overreach: Few chefs master two or more distinct cuisines. But then you experience that rare eatery that somehow nails the California roll, the carbonara, and the brisket, and you realize that dismissing it on principle could mean missing something that’s genuinely excellent.

While some of the products Eversolo makes do just one thing, like the AMP-F10 two-channel amplifier Tom Fine reviewed in Stereophile’s August 2025 issue, most of the Chinese company’s products perform double or triple duty. The $1980 DMP-A8 I assessed for this magazine in July 2024 is a truly excellent streamer, DAC, and preamp in one. I liked the similar but higher-performance A10 ($3999) so much that I made it part of my reference system.

Now there's an Eversolo product with almost boundless Swiss Army-knife aspirations. The $799 Play CD Edition is a music streamer, amplifier, preamp, DAC, and CD player, all housed in a small square box measuring 9" x 3" x 9". The Play's closest rivals are probably the WiiM Amp Ultra ($529 but no CD player) and the Technics SA-C600, which does have a CD drive but costs a bit more: $999 last summer; $1399 after the Trump tariffs hit. I never auditioned the Technics, but I own the WiiM Amp Ultra, and the Eversolo is a step above it in build quality and utility. But how does it perform sonically? Is it worth serious audiophile attention?

Little big man