mephisto IIX or ayre cx7-e


Being about $1000 more, I am tempted to go with the mephisto cuz it looks nice. Anyone with experience to dissuade in terms of sound quality. The ayre cx7-e did seem to win all of the 2003 awards.
souporhero
The Mephisto has a history with all kinds of transport and reliability problems. Be very careful as looks can be deceiving.
Ayre Acoustics is a solid company with great customer service. I recently purchased the Ayre CX-7e to match my Ayre AX-7e Integrated amp. I am using ProAc 2.5 speakers. The CD Player is still breaking in (takes 100+ hours) but my system sounds very good to my ears. I suggest you listen to the Ayre CX-7e CD player.
I suggest you listen to them both, and make your own decision. I've owned an Audiomeca player for three years without a problem.