Branimir,
Thanks for your active information-sharing and generosity in this wonderful thread. I agree with many of your postings here, and kudos for obviously having made great efforts to collect experience with a wide range of equipment.
I own the non-signature EMM combo, and though much more detailed and obviously a 'tier above' my Lindemann CD1 player in most 'audiophile' qualities, I found the older Lindemann to be more emotionally involving and also cleaner sounding. I've auditioned at length the Esoteric P-01/D-01/G-01, P-03/D-03/G-01, and X-01LE units, and found the separates to be astonishingly detailed (much more so than my EMM), but somehow uninvolving or distant. To add my data to this thread, I found the X-01LE to be quite far from the P-03/D-03 separates in overall sound quality, at least in the dealer showroom (though I suspect the X-01LE was relatively even more broken in). I would rate the three setups as more like 100/90/70%, with the P-03/D-03 possibly being the best value. I've also heard the EMM directly A/B'ed against a DCS stack with various configurations of amps and speakers, and in a direct #1-type equipment comparison, the DCS was more detailed yet more fluid, on both redbook and SACD. Only in the bass department did the EMM rate better, possibly having greater weight and authority, though less tightly defined and controlled. The differences were slight, however, within 10-15%. The store owner concurred with these observations, and pointed out the DCS combo was much more expensive.
I called a Lindemann dealer today to enquire about the 820, since this would be a logical upgrade from my CD1 (hopefully retaining the sweetness and musicality, but adding detail, timbre, soundstaging, etc.). He is also the distributor for Zanden, Audionote, and Bluenote (which I had never heard of) in his region, and he suggested I go for the Bluenote instead, which he claimed was sweeter and more organic/cohesive/musical than all his other equipment. Possibly not a totally unbiased opinion, as he may have figured the Zanden/AN gear was a difficult sell, but he seemed straightforward and honest, and did encourage me to actually buy a cheaper machine than what I originally wanted. For the record, he thinks more highly of Zanden DACs than his even higher priced Audionote DACs. He was adamant that the Bluenote bested the 820 (both appear to be #2, so apples-to-apples in this sense) on redbook, and estimated the 820 was only about a 25-30% improvement from my CD1 (but improvements being mainly in the areas I am seeking).
I'm interested in the CD7 for its reported near #2 sound and nearness to Weiss in many sonic qualities, but I use tube amplification, so can't use the balanced connectors. You suggested the CD7 may be better in balanced mode, while the AA combo may be better for single-ended operation, except the sound may be more towards #1 (though I'm not certain how far I lean on this scale).
For single-ended operation with tubes, and for someone possibly being #1.6 (this is really guessing, but it's also right between where you labeled the CD7 and AA), do you think the CD7 would still be the best option, price aside?
Personal auditioning is obviously the best and possibly the only way to discriminate such close players, but the more information as I can gather here the better.
