My very first CD player was a beautiful walnut sided piece by Kyocera circa 1985.
Then went to CAL Delta transport with Alpha DAC, followed by CAL Tempest II. Tried one of the first DAC's by Theta around that time as well.
Moved onto Meridian--500 transport, 563 DAC, 518 processor.
Moved back to one piece operation with Marantz SA-1. Excellent! But then went into a frenzy of auditioning and changing players e.g. Electrocompaniet EMC-1 (still regret selling), Resolution Audio CD-55, Arcam FMJ CD33, Ayre CX7e, Linn Unidisk 2.1.
Also tried a number of other players in a second system: early Rotel and Denon (mid-late 80's), Adcom GCD 750, CAL Icon Mk II, Jolida JD-100, Music Hall Maverick, Musical Fidelity X-Ray v.3, Quad 99 CDP-1, NAD Master Series 05 CD/SACD player, and Linn Majik (incoming).
What I think I'll end up with is the Ayre in my main system, which is balanced, and the Linn Majik in my second system. NAD SACD player will move between the two!
Then went to CAL Delta transport with Alpha DAC, followed by CAL Tempest II. Tried one of the first DAC's by Theta around that time as well.
Moved onto Meridian--500 transport, 563 DAC, 518 processor.
Moved back to one piece operation with Marantz SA-1. Excellent! But then went into a frenzy of auditioning and changing players e.g. Electrocompaniet EMC-1 (still regret selling), Resolution Audio CD-55, Arcam FMJ CD33, Ayre CX7e, Linn Unidisk 2.1.
Also tried a number of other players in a second system: early Rotel and Denon (mid-late 80's), Adcom GCD 750, CAL Icon Mk II, Jolida JD-100, Music Hall Maverick, Musical Fidelity X-Ray v.3, Quad 99 CDP-1, NAD Master Series 05 CD/SACD player, and Linn Majik (incoming).
What I think I'll end up with is the Ayre in my main system, which is balanced, and the Linn Majik in my second system. NAD SACD player will move between the two!