mcintosh mcd 301vs 201

If I understand correctly the McIntosh sales literature, both players use the same DAC and transport.
The transport reads at 4x speed and corrects errors on the fly.
The MCD 301 implements a cast aluminum box surrounding the transport, in order to reduce motor noise.

I have auditioned an MCD 201 and for the price, it is an excellent sounding CD player, even better on SACD.

get the 301
it is a fine player
holds its resale
buy used

The MCD201 was known to have issues that were resolved with the MCD301. The used market for the 301 in mint condition should be around $3000. Good luck.

I have auditioned the 201 and the MVP871. At the time of the 201 audition, I also listened to a Marantz DV7600. The McIntosh was only better in the upper reaches and really not by much. I couldn't justify paying $2,500 for the 201 when I could get the DV7600 for around $900. And it played DVDs pretty well too. I heard that the 301 was significantly better but it was well outside my budget and never bothered with an audition. I brought home an 871 last year for a weekend audition and it was very magical. Very beautiful sound. But I decided that it really wasn't what I wanted. The video was really only insignificantly better than the DV7600 that I ended up buying. So I passed on it and got a Cambridge Audio 840C and a Marantz BD7003 and they do double duty in my HT/2 Channel rig now. Today, you can get an 871 for a steal. It really is a great player. I know that user Smholl above didn't care for it, but I really liked it allot. It is a very revealing and musical player. If your looking for warm, well, it probably isn't your player. I do beleive that I've read that the 871 is in the same league as the 301 as far as SQ goes and it can do video too (if that is a plus for you). Good luck in your search.