Cary 308 or Njoe Tjoeb 4000?

I have heard neither, but I just have to wonder why you would be considering an aftermarket redo versus a ground up player. The Cary is a real tube out put player, whereas the Ah! player is not.

Now I will continue to confuse you, like Peter by seconding the Jolida 100 vote. It is very similar to the Cary, but a lot cheaper. I have read of someone that owns both and actually prefers the Jolida.

Hello,

Just want to clarify. the Cary 308t is $3,000 and has a tube output the regular 308 is $1500. (muralman is talking about 308T..twice the price)

I have owned the Ah! NJOE Tjobe (without upsampler) and I currently own the Cary 303-100. I have listened to the 308 and 308T. Both the 308/T and 303 are very close in sound-wise but the build quality of the 303 is far ahead of the 308. The 308 has a newer chip and a custom HDCD chip (not Pacific Microsystems chip as in the 303.. which many feel is better)

I was overly impressed with the AH!.. A great player for a bedroom system..for the price with the upsampler you can do much better! Yes it has warmth but you are not going to find the musicality and detail on par with ANY of the Cary CD players. I have A/B them. For the price the AH! Performs no miracles...I actually sold the one I had and now simply using a DVD player in my bedroom system.

I would get a Cary 303-100 about $1000-$1200 used. It's built like a true high end CDP the 308's build is more like a commercial unit and you will pay more for this unit simply because it's "new". You are not buying an outdated unit with the 303-100. The only main difference between the Cary 303-100 and 303-200 ('200' selling for much more used) is the newer HDCD chip hence the '200'...I may be wrong I think the '200' allows you to turn off upsampling also...who really wants to do that anyway? Both units turn off Upsampling when HDCD is found.

To sum up ...I have been more than Happy with my 303-100 and thought about upgrading to the 308. Build wise it's a down-grade sound wise you may find minute differences. The law of diminishing returns says the small difference in sound is not worth paying more for a sacrifice in build and transport quality. This player is a keeper.. not once have I lusted over another player the 308 or the 303-200 ...well maybe the 306-200 but $6,000? No thanks not in this lifetime! If you want tubes in your system ..check out a amp or preamp that’s tubed…you will never turn back …I didn’t!

Of course this is all my opinion! Good luck and feel free to ask more questions!

Forget the Cary's, they are overpriced for what they are; get a Gamut CD-1R if you are spending that kind of money, or a used Sony SCD-1.

the sonographe/cj combo is fine...in fact a rather classic combo....i'd change front ends....you'll only make the viennas hungry for more bass by going with the amps mentioned.