I haven't heard the 1520, but I am really happy with my RCD-1072. It's a very musical CD player, with "analog-like" sound. I have never experienced the typical "digital listening fatigue" with my deck, and its HDCD playback feature is a cool bonus (the new 1520 does not have HDCD.) I'm amazed at how many redbook CD's are done in the HDCD format, and they sound really good.... lots of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Grateful Dead, and Reference Recording stuff are HDCD encoded. There are a bunch of good reviews out on the internet for the 1072. The 1072 definitely benefits from using a high quality interconnect to your amp, and I've had great success with the AudioQuest King Cobra. Happy Listening !