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Help on premium cd player

I've been playing around with separates (upsamplers, dacs, transports) seeking like many something that sounds right (like vinyl?). Lately been trying to find a good transport to work with my, largely used, collection of parts. Have now stepped back and realized that I'm already out $3-4,000 and still don't have what I'm looking for, and tired of the search. I want to listen to music. So switching tactics and looking for a really good player in the $3-5,000 range {used), then sell off my "inventory", rationalize cables and rack space and just enjoy (90% classical, jazz and vocals). My candidates, based on reviews and hours reading threads here and AudioAsylum, are

Accuphase dp 65x or 75
Audio Aero Capitole 24/92
Audiomecca Mephisto II
Electrocompaniet EMC-1 Mk2 24/92
Wadia 860x

As an old banker I get a warm feeling if the manufacturer isn't likely to disappear overnight. To those who suggest that I first audition and trust my ears, I agree 100% in theory, but it's not possible where I live.

Comments/recommendations from those who have owned more than one product or were otherwise able to directly compare two or more especially valued.

Oh, my equipment includes tube and transitor pres and amps so I'm flexible, not a zealot for either philosophy!

Many thanks in advance for your contribution. And apologies if this post is too long, just try to preclude questions rather than answers.
grandpad
bwhite
807 posts
 
Subaruguru - you are correct. The EMC-1 Mk II is an outstanding CD player. In fact, at this level all the CD players mentioned are excellent.

--
Thread:
Regarding which player is best, I think it's relative to each of us. We've all worked very hard to assemble our systems & tweak with various interconnects - power cords etc. to acheive what we believe to be the best for the given system (our own).

Grandpad will most likely be thrilled by any of the above CD players but which fits his tastes and preferences is clearly not our decision to make. Perhaps we should all put on our "reviewers caps" and provide better explainations of the equipment we "celebrate". I think in a forum like this it would be more productive than ongoing threads about "who's is bigger", I mean better. In a way - many of our comments regarding what we feel is best, are not too far from what Audionut posted regarding the Aloia.
And for what purpose? I'm not a dealer. I'm just a guy who spends way too much time thinking about this stuff!
audionut7283
6 posts
 
I am not a dealer and the website you mention is not mine.I am a music lover who happens to post what I feel about what makes music.I had my e-mail address years before someone started using the same thing to market products.I own many products most of which I purchased from my local hi-end dealer.I don't buy then resale at a discount I collect and retain most of the brands I purchase.Sometimes it is the look as well as the sound which attracts me.I own Oracle cd 2500,DCS Elgar and Purcell,Audiomeca Mephisto2 as well as their latest dac,audio Analoge cd player,Sony sacd player and I just listened to and purchased the Aloia cd player.It is the most amazingly musical piece of front end equipment I have ever heard and I think I qualify to some degree to make this kind of statement.Yours Truly not Audionut.com
cornfedboy
1,645 posts
 
audionut: if you're not a dealer, then i apologize. just seemed like too many coincidences. it would help your credibility, IMO, to register as a member and tell us a bit about yourself in the "who r u" thread. -cfb
snook2's avatar
snook2
626 posts
 
I am a big fan of the Aloia amps which to me are the biggest steal I have seen in awhile. Does the Aloia cd player also have the Inductive power supply and where did you make your purchase?
paulwp
585 posts
 
You're way off base Kelly. Audionut.com is in Glendale AZ. Sanibelsound is in Virginia. IMO, and this is not an assertion of fact, just an opinion, I find an interesting convergence of opinion with those expressed by sanibelsound, i.e., everything they sell seems to be the greatest thing audionut@webtv has ever heard. Maybe an affiliation, maybe just a "friend." Not the first time someone has said something carried by Sanibelsound is the world's greatest. They must have some real nice stuff.

Grandpa Doug, although I have never taken Kelly's (cfb)advice to reveal myself in the who are you thread, I have been listening carefully to hi-fi for a long time, and although I generally don't believe in spending a lot of money for hi-fi, I do get around some. I have a meridian 508.24, which is now discontinued. As for the cdps you listed, I like the Acccuphases and would concur with Kelly's ranking above except I wouldnt consider the Wadia at all. I have not heard the model you listed but there is the concern mentioned with the company's longetivity, and the earlier Wadia models I have spent some time with just sounded unnatural to me, to the extent that I couldnt figure out what they were trying to accomplish.

Paul (old enough to be a grandpa but we started late)
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