Raysonic CD-128. How good?

When I first heard the Raysonic my impressions were the same as yours.I was looking to replace my Consonance Droplet with something less cumbersome(to make room for a Turntable on the top shelf of my rack).When I saw the Raysonic at my dealer I fell in love! I A-B'd it against the Consonance Forbidden City player(Turandot) and purchased the Consonance.I found the Raysonic to lack life,&sparkle.There was no "magic." We did the comparison with a DK integrated,Granite Audio amp&pramp,Hyperion and Von Schweikert speakers.Several months later I went to my dealer(Quest For Sound) to hear the Jas Orsis and Soliloquy 6.3i speakers.I loved the sound of both and eventually purchased the Soliloquys .I was shocked to find out that we were listening to the Raysonic.All the "magic" was there!!! It was paired with the Raysonic integrated amp.I attributed the change to system synergy(different room,amp,speakers and cable)but Steve(owner of Quest felt that the lengthy break-in was just as important.I had previously heard it the day he had set the Raysonic up.

I heard a Raysonic the day it was unboxed as well. I fell in love with the cool look. It seemed very well built. I compared to a Shanling CDT100 and a Rega Apollo.

The Raysonic was detailed, but lacked the PRAT of the Apollo. The Shanling was neck and neck, and in some ways was better than the Raysonic. It was probably not fair to judge it straight out of the box, but it was the only one the dealer had.

The Apollo blew it away in terms of PRAT. I also did not care for the removable flying saucer shaped acrylic lid. I found it to be a nuissance. Not a big deal, but I was annoyed none the less.

I would be interested in hearing the Raysonic after a reasonable burn-in. But the dealer is selling them too quickly and always winds up selling the store demo unit because someone wants it.

Now that I have had the Raysonic for about two weeks I can report that it has much improved. In fact, dynamics now turns out to be one of its strengths. However, I am not convinced that PRAT is as good as it needs to be for me to be completely happy with it. I will continue auditioning the Raysonic for a while longer and try some different valves. Again, I have to say the build quality of the Raysonic is first class, to say the least. And it looks fantastic. I think for the money it is amazing. It is very smooth and so does a great job on poor recordings. I have put it head to head with the Cary 303 (which costs more). The Cary, at least with the latest revision electronics on board, is a clear winner with good or great recordings but not so otherwise.