Micromega Stage 1 vs. Stage 3 vs. everything else in this list...

Hi jafant, 

The guy I bought the Stage 1 from had gotten a Stage 3 in the meantime and I exchanged--plus some extra dough. 

OMG... the Stage 3 (S3) is absolutely phenomenal sounding. The Stage 1 sounded veiled by comparison, but yet still sounded really good; especially when comparing to the Oppo 95 and I actually preferred the Stage 1 due to it sounding more musical and "analog." The S3 on the other hand just opens everything up so much, yet retains composure of not sounding digital. Very smooth, very musical. My buddy and I are planning another test comparison between the S3 and 95 to see if there is a greater disparity--which there should clearly be.  

TY- for the update jsbach1685

it is all too difficult to beat (no pun) an Oppo.  I look forward in reading more about the Stage 3 spinner.  What gear is in your system, including cabling?

There is a Stage6 on eBay now.

Micromega Leader 2 cdp as well.

Hi jafant, 

I've seen the Leader 2 and Stage 6 on Ebay.

To give some background on the Micromega Stage Series CD Players. This is according to writings that I have found on the internet: There are NOT 6 "consecutive performance" stages to this series. Stage 1,2,3 was the original concept for this player with the Stage 3 being the TOTL model. I read an article somewhere (cannot remember where or if it's true) that the French Govt. passed a law that required certain (or all) electronics to have dedicated power on/off switches. Since the Stage 1,2,3 models did not have this, they revised the players, along with what appears to be the D/A section, and released the Stage 4,5,6. Therefore, the Stage 4,5,6 players are essentially a "revised" version of Stage 1,2 3. So I guess you could think of the Stage 6 as a Stage 3 mkII? Stage 3 and Stage 6 are the top models for each "series." Stage 1 is essentially a Stage 4, Stage 2 is like Stage 5, etc. As mentioned, Stage 1,2,3 players had no power switch. You plugged them in and push any button on player or remote to bring it out of standby. When you are done listening, just let it be. It will go off by itself after about 7-10 min of non-use. I forget the exact time. I should time it. The same DAC is used in all Stage players... a Philips TDA1305T dual CMOS DAC. This is one of my favorite dacs, along with the legendary TDA1541A, and current Wolfson DACs. The 1305 is a very dynamic and musical DAC. The Stage 1 & 4 used one dac, whereas stages 2,3,5,6 used dual dacs in a reverse configuration. You can google the different stage players to see pics of the different DAC sections "Stages" uses at each level. I have personally owned a Stage 1, 5 and currently a 3. The 3 is by far the best sounding of what I had. The 5 sounded a little thin in the mids, and I've read too that the later revised 4,5,6 didn't sound quite as good as the original series. However, I would need a Stage 6 to A/B with my Stage 3 to be certain. But, in looking at pics or "nudies" each stage player, the Stage 3 definitely looks to have the most extensive DAC section of all of them.