In response to your suggestion, twoleftears, I’m considering returning the Denon. But I’m also considering (a) living with it for a while, because patience is a virtue I often find worth exercising, and/or (b) moving it, sooner or later, to the second system in my office, a more likely route, and getting another new CD player for the main system. The CD player in the second system -- an older Sony SCD CE-595 -- has stopped recognizing the SACD layer of discs, a sign that its remaining useful life may not be a long one, and a replacement may be due. And the inexpensive receiver it’s mated with -- a Sony STR-DE185 -- has now developed an intermittent problem of cutting out on one channel. So my audio dollars may be directed there, as well.
Additionally, I find that after more than a dozen years of quiescence, my audio-gear lust has awakened again. I wonder if recent developments in speaker technology would justify the purchase of, say a new pair of Revel or Focal floorstanders to go with my McIntosh MC402 power amp? Or would I really prefer a tubed preamp?
