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

trust your ears and answer the question for yourself. it's a matter of trial and error. listen to as many players as possible and buy what you like. the opinions as to what is "best" cannot be extrapolated onto another person. you have a unique set of ears, brain and preferences.

Mrtennis, that is exaclty what Dbld is talking about. He had to hear it to believe it himself.

Cwlondon- really? Let's test your memory..Name me one or two that were on the same scale as a CD player at the time?

And quite honestly, it is not an apples to apples comparison anyway, so making that comparison directly is not accurate. I was simply comparing the purchase of a CD player now.

A USB DAC is something that has really created it's own class. But it is similar to CD in the sense there is a transport (the PC) which is more stable and incredibly flexible, and also in the sense there is a DAC. However it is has become a seperate of it's own, completely carved out from the chassis of the CD player chassis. Something we all know the value of. I am not trying to impose any opinions here, other than saying the CD itself is (to quote a phrase) dead, dead, dead. For a multitude of reasons...One being it was nothing more than a transitional medium in the grand scheme of digital playback. The other reasons we are all aware of, online music, iPods, iTunes, convenience etc.

Who knows though, in a year or two we could be describing USB DACs in much the same way. But one thing is for sure, CD's won't be revisited and to spend alot of money on one now only says one thing. You're not familiar enough with a PC/MAC to take the plunge.

A Meridian 808 has a more natural sound. A lot more weight and control in the low freq. Also it gives more texture and resolution comparred to a ML 390. And it has a better individual focus and more depth.

I am very happy with my Unidisk 1.1.