California Audio Labs – Icon Mk II CD Player - HDCD

Great question. Because the mods became so popular at the time, CAL ultimately offered an HDCD/PowerBoss model for sale with all the benefits up front. To your question about how do you tell? That can be deduced from wether or not the unit you have/want originated as a full featured ICON mkII HDCD/PowerBoss from CAL or if the unit had a mod/upgrade done to an original/older standard ICON after the fact.

I am currently selling a direct from CAL most-full-featured HDCD PowerBoss model. Listing ID lis7c7e1

Mine came direct from Cal Audio but it says HDCD on it and does not say "PowerBoss"

The Stereophile article says "The Power Boss upgrade for the California Audio Labs Icon Mk.II ... adds HDCD "  but it does not say that an HDCD player has PowerBoss.

I am curious because this elderly player seems to be as good as the OPPO one (the $500 Oppo, not the expensive one).

I have lots of experience with the CAL product line, but beyond conversational deduction, you may want to reach out to these guys with your specific serial number, etc. Maybe they can get you closer to your definite identification:

http://www.approvedaudioservice.com/cal.html