Here’s what I’ve owned over the years. Cary Audio 306 CD / SACD or the Pro model. Loved it. Good drive, excellent dimensionality and speed, good mid bass / bass performance and a wonderful, well balanced top end. However, many reports of reliability issues. Unit is discontinued.
So I auditioned the Esoteric K01, the Dcs Puccini with clock and the OPPO 105D. Returned all of them. Esoteric was just to "dry" and the Puccini was simply boring. I think "system matching" is critical to make these two units sound good. The OPPO was a decent performer with good dimensionality but lacked body and tonal saturation for my tastes.
About a year ago, I purchased a Luxman D06u and I really like the unit. I will never say anything is the best because that doesn’t exist but it is very musical and has a "bottom up" versus "top down" sound with a wonderful midrange. This unit has been recently discontinued but you might find one for sale but unlikely. Those who have are generally not willing to sell. You can contact Luxman USA to see if they can find one for you. List was $8,500 but can likely buy from existing dealer stock (if available) for $6K +/-. If you do buy this model, be advised that it’s going to take several hundred hours of run in before it fully breaks in.
Two other options to consider. The Marantz Ruby ($4K +/-) and you can buy from Music Direct with money back guarantee. Or if you can’t afford, I’d buy a used OPPO 105 for around $1K. Basically a good sounding, reliable CDP and there are several companies that provide mods that address the issues I stated above.
Good luck.
So I auditioned the Esoteric K01, the Dcs Puccini with clock and the OPPO 105D. Returned all of them. Esoteric was just to "dry" and the Puccini was simply boring. I think "system matching" is critical to make these two units sound good. The OPPO was a decent performer with good dimensionality but lacked body and tonal saturation for my tastes.
About a year ago, I purchased a Luxman D06u and I really like the unit. I will never say anything is the best because that doesn’t exist but it is very musical and has a "bottom up" versus "top down" sound with a wonderful midrange. This unit has been recently discontinued but you might find one for sale but unlikely. Those who have are generally not willing to sell. You can contact Luxman USA to see if they can find one for you. List was $8,500 but can likely buy from existing dealer stock (if available) for $6K +/-. If you do buy this model, be advised that it’s going to take several hundred hours of run in before it fully breaks in.
Two other options to consider. The Marantz Ruby ($4K +/-) and you can buy from Music Direct with money back guarantee. Or if you can’t afford, I’d buy a used OPPO 105 for around $1K. Basically a good sounding, reliable CDP and there are several companies that provide mods that address the issues I stated above.
Good luck.
