Audio Research CD3 vs Electrocompaniet EMC 1

I would suggest it's splitting hairs and only your ears can tell you which one you prefer, though my guess would be that if you heard one and never heard the other one you would be perfectly happy with your selection. I have the 24/196 EMC-1 and I love it. Paired with my Mcintosh MA6900 integrated and Tannoy D500s I'm very happy. I know I'm at a good point because when I listen to music I'm just note sure how much better a CD can be to my ears and what "better" would be. I suppose if it projected a holographic image of the musicians I would be impressed by the upgrade. Hey, I better patent that idea : )

I will add that I prefer the appearance of the EMC-1. The black goes well with my Mcintosh and being a trained designer I can never let go of the industrial design of these products.

Kubrickorange, I just checked the classifieds here. Up until a month or so ago, there were always 2 or 3 used EMC1's available; now there are none. The new list is 5500; I don't know if that includes the latest upgrade or not. When they were available used (WITHOUT the latest upgrade) they were going for anywhere between 2500-3000, depending on condition, usage, etc. I payed more toward the high end of the scale, but that's because the one I bought had very few hours of usage--wasn't even broken in yet.

Kubrickorange, I would think a fair used price on an EMC-1 mk2 (without latest upgrade would be around 2600-2800. I shopped the heck out of the used machines on a-gon a few months back, and finally purchased a true 9/10 24/192 unit (w/o latest upgrade) that was "like new" for 2650 plus shipping. The prices seemed to be hovering right around that spot for clean 9/10's. Although I have not heard the CD3, I do so admire the EMC-1 mk2, and I have never once regretted the purchase. The player has all of the qualities I admire, superb tight, deep bass, that "right" amount of musicality, and oh so smooth. Yes, as others have suggested, a VERY analog-sounding piece. It is funny, when I purchased my player I had a very pleasant telephone conversation with the seller (who is a self-proclaimed analogphile with a nice analog rig--BTW Cheers Paul!:-), in which he even remarked how the EMC-1 brought him the closest to that analog sound of any other digital source he had thus experienced. Upon my first listen he was so right. Wow. It is quite simply a great piece, and one of my best audio purchases. I next plan to update my pre (possibly to Pass x1) and am hoping for the best. Best of luck to you whatever player you choose. Sorry for length.

I have owned the EMC1 for about a year and it is a great player. The build quality is second to none. I have also listened to the AR CD3 for hours in a complete Audio Research system. The bottom line is this - both are outstanding players and you can't go wrong with either player, but I certainly would not give up my EMC1.

For everyone who posted....thank you! I agree, the best would be to audition both in my system, but I am interested in buying a clean used player and don't want to waste a dealer's time when I'm not going to buy new.....I simply can't afford it. My budget is around 3k and I felt if I wait some period of time, I could go with either one. Again, many thanks thus far for all the contributions.