Which tube cd player do you like

Mrtennis, can you comment on the sonic differences between the three CD players you listed? i.e. ARC CD7, Lector 7 and AMR CD77? I gather you must have auditioned all three of them.
My gut feel is that the AMR CD77 is the 'warmest' among the three.

hi viper _z:

i have not heard all three cd players in my own stereo system. i have heard ecah cd player in a different stereo system. i will comment, but keep in mind that it is somewhat conjectural in nature.

i have auditioned the lector 7 in a friend's stereo system at least 10 times. he has changed the tubes, changed his amp and changed some cable. most of my experiences have been favorable and in mnay instances, i have wanted to own the player myself. i have usually experieneced a slightly warm and always non fatiguing presentation .

i have heard theaudio research cd player about 6 times. i have heard it as part of an audio research stereo system at ces, i have heard it in another room , also at ces and i have heard it at the home of the distributor of the analysis audio speakers. i have not been particularly pleasesd with the results. i find the player to becloser to truth than to beauty. in addition, the tube selection is very limited. moreover, i was not impressed with the bass r4esponse.

i am purchasing an amr 77, for several reasons. it's flexibility of tube selection, sampling rate, and the opportunity to change the capacitor in the signal path, leads me to hypothesize that i will prefer the amr to the other two players.

i have heard the amr three times, but not under the best of circumstances. i will also admit, that i am taking into account, the comments from several people i have spoken to about this player.

i hope this helps.

i own a paradisea. i would not recommend this dac. i will put it up for sale at the end of the summer. it does not sound like it has a tube in it.

MrTennis,
Thanks for the feedback. I have only listened to ARC CD7 in my system, I think it's strength is that it put the listener at ease with the music, it puts the listener in a very relax mood. It certainly doesn't do all the 'audiophile' things as good as players such as Esoteric. In fact, i find that the CD7 has a much more laid-back presentation than Esoteric X-01, the image size of CD7 is smaller and more 'diffuse', but the CD7 has a very sweet and airy top end which means you can listen to it for a very long long time.

I haven't had the chance to listen to AMR 77, but from what I read, the AMR77 seemed to be more 'forward' sounding, more 'meaty', harder bass, but perhaps not as sweet as the ARC CD7 on the top end? Pls correct me if I am wrong.

For the record I don't own the CD7 because I am primarily a vinyl guy.

i was not impressed with the cd7. it was closer to neutral than sweet. i doubt, but cannot say for sure that the amr 77 is forward. i would think the amr is warmer than the cd7. i would not be buying it if i thought differently. also, there are user controls to alter the presentation and tubes to change, an advantage over the cd7.