Neutrally sounding CDP with a good resolution?


...just decided to post it as a separate thread...

Recently I had not very fortunate experience with upgrade of NAD C541i to Marantz 8400: I discovered that I really miss NAD's neutrality. What NAD lacked was a resolution, it was too grainy on top-end. Marantz is warm, laid-back, more musical - but I need that NAD's neutrality back, with significantly better resolution then NAD had. And I don't want it to be not laid-back nor forward - I'd prefer somewhere in between. What CD player would you recommend?

System
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Source: Marantz 8400 (formerly NAD C541i)
Amp: Moon i-5 (fast and neutral or a little on a bright side)
Speaker cable: AZ Satori (love 'em)
Speakers: Revel M20 (fast and neutral or a little on a bright side)
dmitrydr
I think the Music Hall CD25 is very good for the price. Get the RAM modded CD25 (Response Audio)and you won't be thinking about changing your front end anymore. It is a great piece.

Regards,
I never seem to see any discussion of the Cary 308-T (tubed model) here, but it upsamples, plays hdcd, has very nice resolution on the higher frequencies, and a smoother tube sound for the lower midrange. A bit pricey compared to the others mentioned above, though.
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You've had the Marantz for 3 days, how about leaving it running for 200-400 hours on every playback side [cd for 300, sacd for 300, dvda for 300hrs, etc] before you pass judgement, then try new interconnects and power cords/conditioners and isolation devices [a bicycle intertube worked for me, never rest this player flat on a wood/mdf shelf]. Speaking psychoacoustically, I suspect that you've simply become accustomed to your NADs sound and refer to it as neutral, as it's what you're simply used to hearing, yet the Marantz in fact is both more natural and neutral in reality you're missing your old, colored sound. I've heard the NAD and the Marantz, I can't imagine anyone missing anything from the NAD after hearing the Marantz, at least in my experience, though your ears and your system is what's most important to you....Another thought, the more honest Marantz source may simply be exposing weakness elsewhere in your system that the NAD couldn't reveal or simply covered up with its faults. Not that the Marantz is perfect or competitive with 10k front ends, but it's quite good and more then competitive at its price point and a little beyond.