Is the Mark Levinson 390S still a reference player


Hello,

I'm thinking of buying a used ML 390S, but how does
it compare to today's Reference players? Players like
the Esoteric X-05....Luxman D-05 & D-06...Cary 306...
Ayre CX-5xeMp.

Thanks
alpha3
None of those players will sound like a LINN Akurate DS playing 24/96 or 24/192 FLAC/WAV files.
Why the fixation with Levinson? The other units in your original post are well thought of. If I were tu buy a CD player, I would probably go to an Esoteric X03, but that's me. Anyway, I have since decided to sell my CD player and focus on computer based system. It's amazing what a Squeezebox Touch + external DAC can do.
I quit using a CD player altogether. I have (but don't use) a Rotel RCD-1082. I was thinking of upgrading, at that time I considered the 390S, but instead decided to jump into computer audio. To me it was a matter of whether computer audio had advanced enough already. I took one of the easiest/safest routes: bought a Squeezebox Touch a year ago and have not used the CD player since. Don't be deceived by the small price, it's a good unit.

My take: computer audio is evolving very fast and doesn't make sense yet to stretch much economically. Whatever you buy will be obsolete in 5 years, so don't go overboard spending there. CD, on the other hand, is becoming mature and if you want to stick with it you are probably safe buying an excellent and reliable CD player now.

Of course, that's MY take on things. I hope it helps.