Cary 306 Pro opinions

I love Cary gear, obviously, but I would suggest buying a turntable for half the price of the Cary 306 Pro and spend the rest of the cash on new vinyl. It will sound MUCH better.

Considered Cary 306, Audio Aero Capitole, and Emm Labs EMM Labs CDSA SE CD/SACD.

I could have gone with the Cary 306 but at the end I just like the Emm Labs for details, clarity, and more vinyl like sound. The 306 has more slam with a better transport and sounds great but sounded a bit bright in my system. I did like the different levels of upsampling and digital inputs (AES/EBU, Coaxial, Toslink) which unfortunately EMM Labs did not have.

If purchased Cary 306 you shall enjoy the music experience for a longtime.

You should reconsider including SACD. It truly sounds spectacular with the right system/room/recording. I recently played a Mozart SACD (Midori) and must say, I was blown away (and I'm a vinyl guy).

Cerrot - the Cary 306 Pro DOES play SACD's.

I haven't heard Cary 306 Pro so I can't comment on how it sounds. I've heard good 45 RPM single sided special reissues that sound exceptional. The best sounding vinyls are probably better sounding than the best sounding digital. But on average I wouldn't say vinyls sound MUCH better than the digital. On contrary, the average sound quality from my Sony sounds better than average vinyls I've heard elsewhere. If you have a good CD collection, it pays to have a decent sounding digital player than write it off and go entirely vinyl. IMHO, YMMV.