Denon DCD A100

Any comments on the A100. Thanks larry

I'm seriously thinking of pulling the trigger on this Denon 100th Anniversary player. I have owned a 1520 (sold it to a trumpet student-he still has it-I replaced the belts) and bought a mint (supposedly shelved) 1560. It works great unless I let it sit for too long a time w/o playing it. (Won't read disc...) If I tap it gently, it works fine, so I think it might be a laser transport issue. Both machines outperform each of these machines I bought 2nd hand to challenge it:

CAL Tercet Mk. III
Sony DVP-9000ES SACD/DVD
Sony 5000ES Blu-Ray (bought new)
Various other tweaked 90's machines based on the "Mod Squad" platform.

I've got over 2K CD's and I'm really pleasantly surprised by how tough these vintage Denon machines are to beat. It's very highly detailed, but not overly analytical (to my ear) and the Bass dynamics/Voltage swings (RED book) run away with everything else I've personally thrown at it. My Analog setup is a VPI HW-19 Mk. IV/SAMA/SDS on Cones with the shelf on Navcom. Sumiko MMT/Blackbird and the 1560 is the only digital source I have that comes close in the audio realm. TIA for any constructive advice!

I've had mine for 6 mos and it's starting to sound really good. It is a well balanced presentation with superb scale and weight. Other than a very slight spotlighting in the mids there is absolutely nothing to complain about. At least half dozen players have come by to challenge it and none has been able to beat it (at least in my system). Cambridge 840 and McIntosh 201 came close but neither had the detail that comes so effortlessly from the A100. I read somewhere the transport in the Denon - smoothest and quietest I've seen by far from any player - is a derivative of the one used in the 6k MCD500. Very possible, since both firms are owned by the same parent company.

I've owned my DCD A100 for almost 1 yr. I've head to head tested with th mac 500, sim audio moon player @ 10 grand & an Audio Research player. The detail, sound stage is better and more 'fluid'. The only player better was the Esoteric reference.... But not by much... Warmer sound, but less detail. I've compensated by using Transparent reference RCA's. All other players used balanced. Equipment: Mac c2300, MC601, Genesis 2.2jr & Transparent Reference cables.

Can someone tell me why the screen shuts off when DAC is on ?