I have owned the CDP 7TL MkII and two MkIII's, either of which should sound better than the MkI. Lector made improvements from the MkI to the MkII in the power supply, chassis damping, and top drawer slider. The only difference from MkII to MkIII was changing the DAC board to accomodate the BB PCM-1704 24-bit chipset instead of the PCM-63 20-bit chipset. I have been told by two people who should have pretty good ears that they believe the MkII sounds better than the MkIII. I have been told by more people that the MkIII sounds better. HP from TAS implied the MkIII sounded better to him. My ears tell me they both sound great, and not so different from each other. The MkII projects a "creamier" slightly richer, fuller sound. The MkIII has better resolution and also falls on the rich, full side of the sonic scale compared to many others, but slightly less so compared to the MkII. I believe the bass is tighter with the MkIII, and also just as deep and powerful. The difference in sound is due to the two different DAC's used. I find the August 2007 Soundstage! review of the MkIII pretty much describes the sound. I kept the MkIII. It may not be the "best" but it is highly musical and highly enjoyable in the under $5K (used) price range. I preferred the sound of the MkIII Lector over the Blue Note Stibbert in a side-by-side comparison in my system, and I kept the Lector. The new price in the US is $5365, and there is now one for sale here for $2,100. I have no idea why it has been listed for 19 days without being sold.
