Warmer CD sound sought - MCD 301 or 500 or REF CD7

you don't need to spend that kind of money and I'd advise against it since I expect cd optical medium will be a thing of the past in the next 5 to 10 years. I'd go with a Raysonic 168 or any good design tubed output player.The Ray is slightly warmish. In my experience ARC designs are highly detailed but analytical and not musical...just my opinion and others with have a different take.

Agreed, no need to spend that kind of $$....the Rega Saturn is a world class red book spinner, no tubes to fart around with, just leave it on 24/7 for best sound...zero digital nastiness and sublime musical fluidity and weighty sound, plenty of detail and harmonic definition.
Don't let it's price fool you, I've put it up against many of the so called best and with $15K in my pocket for a digital source, I took the Saturn......

I auditioned 3 players about 5 months ago,AudioResearch CD-7,
Arcam's top player(forget the #) and bryston BCD-1.
They were all connected to a Audio research pre.
I had about 2-3 hrs. with them and my own music.
To MY ears(and I really wanted the CD-7)out of all I preferred the BCD-1,she always seemed to be closer to how the
instruments sound naturally.I had to trust my ears and I think we all hear differently.I did use the dacs from the BCD-1(analog outs)avoiding the dacs in the AR pre.
Hopefully you can audition different cdp at home or at least
with your own music and trust YOUR EARS.Hope that helps.

My CD collection will outlast any hard drive and I will always need something to play them. Investing in a great CD player is an obvious choice for many, including you and me. Twenty years ago people were saying LPs were disappearing and that turntables were a stupid purchase. There is no clear end in sight for the CD IMO. In any case, you'll get lots of good use out of the player in 10 years time...

I plan on getting a 301 soon myself - but if you can afford the CD7, it is the finest CDP I have heard. Its only downside is that it uses 7 6H30s of which there aren't many options to choose from. Either you have to get expensive DR tubes or risk having to buy 10 EH to get 7 good (i.e. quiet) ones.

I haven't heard the 500 yet but it might be serious competition for the CD7 and have the benefit of zero tube hassle. Not to mention that you also get a sophisticated preamp and DAC inputs, which makes it a practical and flexible deal.

Arthur

I spent several years trying to warm up the sound of my system, particularly on the CD side. It's not easy. I was disapointed in the ARC "house" sound, but I have never had the CD7 in my home. I think the ARC house sound is kind of cool and analytical (and I think that's the general view). I also tried a Mac pre-amp, and was similarly disappointed. The CD player in your range that I like (and bought) was the EAR Acute. It's pretty darn warm and laid back. But I prefer the EMM CDSA SE--unfortunately at more than twice the price. For what it's worth, before you spend your money, do whatever you have to do to get your prospective purchase into your system where you can hear how it will really sound. I don't think either of the brands you're considering are especially noted as being "warm" sounding.

Good luck.