French CD players' sound ?

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.

I agree that French CD players do sound more musical as a
general rule, compared to American and Japanese CD players.
I have been using a Micromega Duo Transport and Duo BS since
1992, and they are still functioning perfectly. Over the years, I have noticed that no reviewer has tapped the potential of the Duo and Trio transports by supporting them
on a slab of granite as per manufacturer's recommendation. I believe that the granite (I use 1.5" thick slab)is supposed to act as a mechanical sink through the spike foot on the transport. In addition, I have found that the Harmonic Tech Magic Digital cable to work very well. Better than Kimber AGDL. Anyways, I digress.
The Canadian audio magazine, UHF recently tested some French
CD players and DACs that they really liked. These were the
Vecteur CD transport and CD player, and a Audiomat D/A
converter. You might try to locate these for a listen.
Maybe e-mail UHF for information.

The Vecteur Players are very nice if you don't mind putting up with poor name recognition on reslale and spotty distrubution and support. They really are outstanding, nice integrateds to.

Everybody I have talked to wants the Audio Aero Capitole 24/196. I would also take a look at the Metronome products ie CD 2V.