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

I'll say it in a different way.

EMM LABS approach:

We believe in cd playback and we try to get the best out of it.

AMR approach:

We believe cd playback is flawed by design and we use tubes to get a better result.

here is a relevant question:

when listening to the amr vs the emm, in which case is the timbre of an instrument rendered more like the actual instrument ?

from what i have gleaned, the amr will be less timbrally inaccurate than the emm.

both players are inaccurate, as no component is perfect. one may create a more natural representation of reality than the other. that is the player i woould want to own.

is the amr the last word with respect to timbre ?

perhaps there is another player to compete with it, such as the audio aero capitole mk 1 and the lector 7 mk 1.

by the way, "analytical", is not a synonym for "accurate".

if the emm is analytical, it is significantly colored. how is that a basis for recommending it for purchase ?
who would want to own an "analytical" sounding component ?

Audiohifila,

Don't hate, it's never pretty.

Read the reviews here and at the Audioasylum of Playback Designs MPS-5. It's gone head to head with a couple of Emms in those reviews. I'm taking mine to Austin in September to A-B vs. a dcS stack. A new owner wrote me a couple of weeks ago that it put his AMR on the UPS truck.

I can tell you it's excellent, but until I do some more A-B that's pretty much the limit, except that it's equally great sounding in either balanced or unbalanced mode. It has the advantage of being a SACD/CD combination player and it's got digital-in in several formats.

Dave