Which is the best CD-Player up to $ 10k ?

>>The source should not alter the signal in any way.<<

Nor should any other component in a system.

But they all do.

Audiofeil of course that's true. But I think its two times wrong to start with an altered signal cause it is then multiplied.

08-05-08: Audiofeil
>>The source should not alter the signal in any way.<<

Nor should any other component in a system.

But they all do.

Even your ears alter the signal as it's being filtered and interpreted by your brain.

Argyro, I have a different perspective on the comparison of the EMM Labs equipment and the AMR CDP. I ran the EMM Labs SE separates for an extended period and then eventually bought the AMR and ran it for comparative listening purposes for several weeks. My benchmark is large scale classical music, and there was no contest in my system with this style of music. The AMR eliminates a certain digital glare that tends to exhibit itself with the EMM Labs gear in peak passages, and, overall, the AMR has a more natural sound with the best ambience retrieval and portrayal of hall space that I have personally experienced with a digital source. YMMV, I suppose.

Re this one 'right' thing v 2 'wrong things' stuff, what I can't get my mind around is how does one actually determine that the 'right' source is in fact perfect? Is there some way of listening to this 'right' source without considering the 'rightness' of the rest of the audio chain, including room/set up/ etc. I can't figure out what constitutes a 'right' audio system.

Now if I had a perfect (right) audio system perhaps I could distinguish the differences between sources and pronounce one of them the 'right' one. But if the downstream system wasn't (just by chance mind you) perfect, perhaps I'd make a mistake and think the wrong source was the right source.

All so confusing.............