Audio Research Reference CD-7

Viper_z - Branimir always have had CD-7 in his second (all ARC) system. He has Esoteric in his main rig.

I have bought CD-7 myself, after auditioning a dosen of different players in the 8-20k range. IMO this player is a gem. Requires an awful lot of break in time to sound its best though (ca. 400h).

I heard the Marantz SA-7S1 for the first time a few days ago. It was very detailed, but did not seem to strip anything away in the process. Yes, it was musical, very impressive w/ vocals. I am using the EAR Acute, which also has IMO a tonality that is right to my ears. The SA-7S1 is now clearly one that I would seek out to try in my system next. The AMR CD-77 is also on my hit list. Well, now we have covered most of the CDP's that use the # 7.

Fjn04, have you ever listened to the ARC CD7??

About your preferences about the looks of the ARC CD7, just goes to show how different we all are. I really like it. I like it by itself, and I'd like it next to my new LS-26 (I would - but haven't decided about soending the money). As to the comment about "design for the sake of design" - the answer is, of course it is! They all are. Why wouldn't you try to make your product look nice and well as functional?

BTW guys - I just got a few dosens of NOS 6N6P tubes, directly from Ukraine ($2 a pop ... you can also have them for $25 from ebay).

That tube is a direct replacemnt to 6H30 tube used in CD-7. That was even confirmed by "the 6H30 man" (Viktor Khomenko from BAT) himself in his post on Audio Asylum. Supposedly, they sound much better than 6H30 ones. We will see. I will report back.