Cary 306 SACD

Sounds like Cary has quality issues. Same transport as the Sony SCD1 means you be replacing it in a few years, Slide motor will go bad, that is the only problem the SCD1 had.

Stick with the major players of digital audio, Sony, Accuphase are the top of the heap. They sound as good as most out there and will run forever.

You'd also be missing out on one of the best players out there.Cary stands behind their products...great people to work with.

Senna: are you saying that the strength of this player is SACD playback? I'm looking for a player that strength's lie in redbook mostly or at least is equally adept in both formats.

I was blown away by the redbook performance.Before hearing the cary i "tolerated cd playback" and much preferred analog.Now it doesn't matter .The cd playback is that good.Only when i listen to the best analog recordings i. e. DCC/CLASSIC RECORDS/ANALOGUE PRODUCTIONS do i feel that LP playback is clearly superior to the redbook playback.
To my ears SACD playback offers better control at the frequency extremes and better overall balance/poise.Sacd offers better seperation of the mutiple layers of music on a given recording.LP playback has impressive body and 3-d dimensionality.

Sad to say, I've had the same issue with 2(TWO) 306/300. That is, occassionally locking up when trying to access the SACD layer. The second one also had a distinct, less than smooth tray movement.

Ventilation is NOT a problem, as this one is seated in the turntable place of prominence with air all around it.

Sound is great, and I'm resigned to working with Cary to work this out....but QC or design seems to be an issue here. Is