Another example is the $3000 Ayre Cx7e; it's another player that has received critical acclaim/awards. How does this player compare to the best? Magazine reviewers probably don't want to tell us in their reviews because it poses a degree of negativity towards a product that may very well be a class leader at a certain price point.
Calgarian,
At it's price point, the Ayre CX7e is an excellent player. Although it gives a taste of the CX5e, it is no CX5e (which costs twice as much). In saying this, I am not casting any negative notions on the CX7e. In fact, it has the place of honor in my second system. However, for my primary system, I currently have Alex Peychev's APL 3910 (with AKM DACs) which, for about the same money as the CX5e, is in a higher league than the CX5e (in my humble opinion). For more details of my comparative impressions of these players, please see my posts on other threads. Several audiophiles who compared the APL 3910 to players costing as much as three times it's cost, claim that it either bested those players or held it's own against them. But as sublime as the APL 3910 is, it is now significantly bested by it's big (and more expensive) brother the APL NWO-2.5 which is Alex Peychev's brilliant original design that uses the excellent Esoteric UX-1 VRDS NEO transport and chassis. The NWO-2.5 is being heralded as a major milestone and the cutting edge of digital that is on par with (or better than) the state of the art for vinyl. However, the fact that I recently ordered a 2.5, does not cast any negative notions on my APL 3910. Each of these players is a stepping stone on the path to musical Nirvana.
Calgarian, you were hoping that some owners of top-of-the-line digital sources would recommend players whose performance is just shy of the top tier players but without their cost. If no one obliges, this information can be gotten indirectly by reading the reviews by these owners and then seeing to what degree a less expensive unit manifests the fine qualities discussed in those reviews. One typical difference between a top tier player and lesser one is that the former usually do many more things well than the latter. This is especially evident in the recent superlative reviews of the NWO-2.5 posted on the APL Forum: http://www.aplhifi.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=558
Best Regards,
John