Tube CD Players other than Jolida

I second the Audio Aero Prima - IMO the best CDP I heard so far below 3-4K. Excellent resolution, very realistic portrayal of instruments. Piano is reproduced with natural decays and resonances. My only complaint about the Prima is that the bass could be just a tad tighter (which is true for many tube players.

As far as tube CDP go, I also had a Unison Unico, which allows you to change tubes, but I would avoid that one unless you like singers to have a permanent cold.

The Cary 308t often shows up in classifieds in the $1250 range.

If you can stretch your budget to $1,400, the Doge 6 CD player at Pacific Valve is really excellent for the money. I understand that the CDP is manufactured in the same Chinese manufacturing faciity that produces the Jolida electronics. The Doge 6 CDP uses six tubes in its output stage - four 12AX7s and a pair of 12AT7s in a shunt-regulated push-pull circuit.

I am running the Doge 6 in my SET system and have found the sound quality to be excellent - significantly better than you would ever expect in this price range. The MHZS CD players mentioned above are also imported by Pacific Valve. They are more affordable than the Doge 6 and are also said to be a step down in quality of sound (but excellent in their own right).

i was going to suggest a little budget-stretching too, after seeing a tubed Raysonic CD 128 go for $1,200 here on Audiogon. Great machine.

Thanks guys for your imput.

The one thing about the Jolida that keeps calling me is the fact that I can taylor the sound with different tubes.

The others are a bit higher priced than I can afford, $1000 is the max, unfortunitly.

I did notice the Consonance CD-120 LInear seems to be going for a decent price. Any thoughts on that player compared to the Consonance reference or Jolida or my Rotel? Can you change tubes in the CD-120 Linear?

I'm really looking for a bit more sparkle in the top end compared to my Rotel 1072.

Thanks Again!