What is the best redbook CD player for 6K to 8K?

Guidocorona, can't speak for anyone else, but when it comes to the digital players I re-design, I am honoring the original "factory" warranty they have, regardless of the failure. Actually, there is nothing much to break in a digital player except for the Laser Pick up or some of the motors which can be easily replaced. We have also signed mutual agreement with Esoteric and have their 100% support, so there is nothing to worry about, really.

Regards,
Alex

>>keep an opened mind to the modded players, they make mince meat out of the stock players<<

Not always.

Mac Mini plus a Wavelength Cosecant USB DAC. Investing in a CD player now is like buying a cassette player after the begining of the CD revolution.

Alex, I am delighted to see that you have lately addressed some of the considerable outstanding APL customer service challenges. I do understand perfectly that not being the OEM makes it more difficult, as control of parts sourcing is per se more limited because of the additional steps of indirection. On the other hand, some of APL's service issues do not seem to have been resolved as yet, although their older e-trails have mostly being clensed from the APL fora by Mr. Rainwater, I presume.

DBLD, I am not personally interested in modders 'helping out' with a repair. I personally rather prefer a clearly defined and legally binding statement of limited warranty, from an original manufacturer. Of course, not all OEM were created equal. . . once again. . . Caveat Emptor!

Guidocorona - You are correct, and that is legitimate concern, as much as the AudiogoN resale value of a "modded" machine...which is usually not that good. If you go that route, you’d want to keep the piece for quite some time.

With my statement above, I meant to clarify that an owner of a modded piece is not "up-the-creek" with no one to fix the machine should there be a problem.