First impressions are strong. The CR-715DAB CD receiver oozes class with its slightly concave front panel and robust build. What lies beneath is also admirable. You’re looking at a switching amplifier design that uses Onkyo’s Vector Line (VL) Digital technology to remove spike noise during Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) with a high-instantaneous current capability that helps to negate speaker impedance fluctuations and maintain audio quality throughout the frequency range. On the CD drive side, the inclusion of Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry (VLSC) eliminates noise and maintains the purity of the audio signal, a particularly useful benefit if you make use of digital music files. Quite unlike any compact CD receiver released by Onkyo before, the CR-715DAB shows a new direction for compact CD receiver systems.