Which is the best CD-Player up to $ 10k ?

08-05-08: Audiofeil
>>The source should not alter the signal in any way.<<

Nor should any other component in a system.

But they all do.

Even your ears alter the signal as it's being filtered and interpreted by your brain.

Argyro, I have a different perspective on the comparison of the EMM Labs equipment and the AMR CDP. I ran the EMM Labs SE separates for an extended period and then eventually bought the AMR and ran it for comparative listening purposes for several weeks. My benchmark is large scale classical music, and there was no contest in my system with this style of music. The AMR eliminates a certain digital glare that tends to exhibit itself with the EMM Labs gear in peak passages, and, overall, the AMR has a more natural sound with the best ambience retrieval and portrayal of hall space that I have personally experienced with a digital source. YMMV, I suppose.

Re this one 'right' thing v 2 'wrong things' stuff, what I can't get my mind around is how does one actually determine that the 'right' source is in fact perfect? Is there some way of listening to this 'right' source without considering the 'rightness' of the rest of the audio chain, including room/set up/ etc. I can't figure out what constitutes a 'right' audio system.

Now if I had a perfect (right) audio system perhaps I could distinguish the differences between sources and pronounce one of them the 'right' one. But if the downstream system wasn't (just by chance mind you) perfect, perhaps I'd make a mistake and think the wrong source was the right source.

All so confusing.............

Guys, thats why our hobby is so great
As Audiofeil said you can reach the desired results following many different approaches. It would be boring any other way.

Regards,

Michael

Cincy_bob, what Argyro is saying is that it is best to have a very revealing source, and then you mask it downstream with cables, speakers, amps, et al.

As I said before, there are many ways to accomplish good sound.

Some, like Argyro, prefer a true source and 'smoothing' cables and/or speakers. Others may choose more 'true' speakers and cables, but want a more 'smoothing' CDP.

Bottom line is we all are seeking the same grail, but have different means of approaching it.

Cheers,
John