French CD players' sound ?

I have heard the Audio Meca Keops and found it to be an extremely musical player, well worth giving an audition. And if you have the cash, the Audio Aero Capitole is probably the best of the lot, from the buzz it's gotten on the net. I haven't heard it yet, not being in the market for a replacement CD player, but it's from a company whose designer has a Jadis and Audio Matiere resume, and that's enough to recommend it to me.

I listen to the top YBA at my local Pass/YBA dealer. It is in their reference system with Pass X pre-amp & X350 amp.
It does have the double power supply. It sounds excellent to me. I have also heard it in an all YBA Passion system with Kharma Ceramique speakers, also excellent!

Daniel

Some of Micromega's cd players have been notorious for mechanical problems due to some problems with the Phillip's transports contained therein. I have used Micromega dac's for years for exactly the same sonic reasons you mentioned above. I have compared them to other, even more expensive and supposedly more technologically advanced dacs and I while it is easy to find dacs that present more details, it is difficult to find any reasonalby priced ones that sound more musically satisfying. If you can't find a cd player that you like, you may want to consider getting a used Microcmega dac and picking up a new cd player with a digital output to use as a transport. Used Micromega dacs can be had cheaply, and come up here or on ebay occaisionally.

I have a YBA CD1a and find it extremely musical. It has that rare quality of a highly detailed sound without any glare or harshness. Put it this way - I don't have the upgrade bug I once had. That said, the CD1a is slightly long in the tooth - like Rcprince mentioned, the Audio Aero Capitole is reputedly king of the hill now at the sub $10k level. I haven't head the Capitole, but I also haven't heard anyone who did hear it claim it to be anything less than almost perfect. Strange that the French have such a way with digital perfection...

http://www.audaud.com/audaud/JAN02/EQUIP/equip3JAN02.html

I had the Audiomeca Enkianthus which is the top-of-the-line outboard DAC which corresponds and is identical to their top-of-the-line Mephisto II CD player. I found this DAC to be, at the same time, both smooth and extremely detailed, a rare combination. The extreme highs were extremely extended. It is also exceptionally airy. Midrange was quite liquid. However, it had neither the dynamics nor the bass weight nor the bass extension that I was looking for. I have heard that the Audio Aero could be quite similar. Although everyone raves about its analog qualities, a dealer told me its bass is nearly non-existent. For my taste, no matter how analog it sounds, I am not willing to sacrifice bass weight, bass extension or outstanding dynamics. I heard the top-of-the line YBA player last may at the New York High Fi Show and that had good bass weight, extension and dynamics and, IMO, is worth an audition. My audition was too brief for me to represent it as one of the best players overall, but I didn't hear anything missing. It is not a soft, delicate sound like the Audiomeca or the reputed sound of the Audio Aero.

A friend of mine uses a Micromega T-Drive with a Forte (Model 50?) DAC in his Audible Illusions 3, Pass Aleph 4, Vandersteen 3 system. That transport/DAC combination is outstanding in every way. It has dynamics, bass extension, detail and extended treble. It is not the smooth upsampled sound which seems to have taken hold today, but it doesn't give up anything to those players, IMO.

Among the current French players, I would give special attention to the top-of-the-line YBA before jumping on the Audio Aero bandwagon.