WADIA / dCS / AA Capitole - the ultimate CD ??? .

The Muse Thalia Nine I believe would compare favorably to the Audio Aero Capitole which I am sure is a very strong contender for a single box solution.

It seems it might be wise to choose a player that you can not only live with but be sure to get a decent return on in case of a future desire to upgrade; aquireing a unit that is ready for future fomat decoding may also be a consideration. The Muse is fully modular, offers dual differential DAC's, is fully balanced and includes seperate circuitry for cd and video playback. This unit was built with the capability of decoding any future format that comes along.

Personally, I have not used the Thalia Nine for anything other than redbook cd playback which is all I intend on using it for, at least for now. Former Muse Products have achieved Stereophile Class A+ lists for quite some time. The new Muse MAP digital products exceed the performance of previous Muse digital products and retain the musicality that Muse is known for. You should hear the highs on this player, they are a sonic treat - extended and non-fatigueing. Overall, the Thalia Nine is wonderful on every type of music I have played through it, the detail this player extracts from a silver disk is impressive to say the least.

For the final decision in selecting your digital gear, listen first to it at your home, in your system with your cables, ect.... Then narrow down the choices, I think you would be more content after careful personal evaluation than you would making a choice solely on the grounds of any audiophiles suggestion written in a forum on the vast World Wide Web.

-Chris

linn cd12.

Well, I didn't listen to the Wadia or the AA, but when I listened to the dCS (Verdi, Purcell, Delius) I that that is what I was looking for. of course one must consider the while route. i.e. cables, amps, speakers, and finally the room.

I use the dCS gear with Sonic Frontiers Power 3 mono tube amps and Genesis 350 speakers. That and a mix of Transparent XL and Synergistic Research Resolution Reference cabling, I really feel very satisfied now and should be for some time to come. (OK, may be upgrading all my cabling to Transparent XL).

I guess after many years of upgrade, changes, and so on, I realized that one must start with the best front-end that one can afford. I find the dCS gear to be very musical and yes I confirm that they are very detailed, with perfect space recreation and untamed dynamics.

Mrgigi,

There is a game where children sit in a circle. One person whispers a story into the ear of the person to their right. That person then whispers the story to the person to their right. The last person in the circle tells aloud the story as he heard it, and everyone has a good laugh at how the story changed from their version as it was passed around the circle. There is a danger to digging through the threads for "generalizations" about these units.

Are you running these units all through a preamp or direct?

My experience with all of them, which has been quite extensive, is that the Audio Aero was the only digital front-end that I could listen to continuously in place of my vinyl setup.

As a dealer for Audio Aero I have had the opportunity to do the comparisons prior to committing to the line. The Wadia was never a factor at all. I was about to take on dCS, but when I put them head to head with the Capitole, I could no longer enjoy listening to the dCS gear. It is like a choice between Roseanne Barr and Shannon Elizabeth. :)