Ayre C5xe or APL 3910 ?

Alex, I was in Zlatni Piasaci (that's how they spelled it) first in 1986 when they took our passports and would not let westerners wear bathing suits! I went back this summer and though allowed, chose not to wear anything revealing. The people were, as before, beautiful and gracious. One of my favorite CDs is "The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voice" which captures the amazing tonality of your native culture. As for automobiles I lust for the BMW M5. The others seem too tricked out, not for real drivers. But I would love to hear your product based on your obvious good taste and good nature. But your electronics will have to stand on there own. I understand you may be a new father. My congratulations to you whatever.

Interesting thread. Keis I didn´t know, that Boulder builds CDP´s ;)? Compared to the BAT and the Krell (which serious music lover listens with Krell??) the Boulder 1012 pre-amp with dac (you probably mean this unit) is in another stratosphere when connected to an adequate drive like Metronome or Esoteric.
Tvad: I havent compared the 3910 modded Denon to C-5xe but I for sure know at least three one box players that easily outperform the modded Denon: my Audio Aero Capitole MK II with mods, the Wadia 861 SE with GNSC Statement modes (light years away) and the Esoteric UX-1. There might be many others out there (Spectral, dcs, Goldmund, Metronome, Bladelious Gondul, etc, etc.) So its always very dangerous to say how good sth. is when you haven´t listend to the rest... But I agree with you the Denon is very hard to beat for the money although the looks, the build quality and the ergonomics are crap..
But I´ve heard some roomors that JRDG will release a matching multiformat player to their amps..

"I havent compared the 3910 modded Denon to C-5xe but I for sure know at least three one box players that easily outperform the modded Denon: my Audio Aero Capitole MK II with mods, the Wadia 861 SE with GNSC Statement modes (light years away) and the Esoteric UX-1. There might be many others out there (Spectral, dcs, Goldmund, Metronome, Bladelious Gondul, etc, etc.) So its always very dangerous to say how good sth. is when you haven´t listend to the rest."

so you're saying that you haven't compared the player in question, but you will give your opinion, while at the same time you'll caution tvad about doing the same? personally, i've heard the Audio Aero Capitole MK II, Wadia 861 SE and the Esoteric UX-1 in the same system and to my ears none of them came close to what APL 3910 could do. the other players are asthetically pleasing, but i want lifelike music from my system. ymmv.

What might have been the JRDG digital player was being designed as a side project by Rich Maez, who recently left JRDG for Boulder. That's my understanding anyway.

Quackfat: yes you´re right, I´ve compared the denon to the modded aa the modded wadia and the ux-1 not to the c-5xe. interestingly to your ears the inferior product (drive, casework, superclock, processor, damping, etc (denon). were superior to the ones I´ve auditionned - interesting ;)