I haven't heard the Cary or Shanling and I don't care to. Given the sterling performance of the Jolida, there is no incentive for me to shell out big bucks. I owned a Jolida 603 player and it was the best under $1500 dollar cd player you could get and it cost only $600 new. Despite sounding wonderful, it did have problems with it's transport and tracking.
The new JD 100 shares nothing with the old except tubes. This is a serious audiophile machine. The new transport works flawlessly. It tracks with the best. To get to the sound, well that depends on what tubes you choose. It's hard to go wrong with the favorites. I like 5751 tubes, but most opt for one of the finer 12AX7 tubes. Many have found the Jolida to be the best CDP there is. I can't imagine any better. There are two major reviews done on the Jolida using stock tubes; check them out, but bare in mind with better tubes the reviews would have been even more spectacular.
The new JD 100 shares nothing with the old except tubes. This is a serious audiophile machine. The new transport works flawlessly. It tracks with the best. To get to the sound, well that depends on what tubes you choose. It's hard to go wrong with the favorites. I like 5751 tubes, but most opt for one of the finer 12AX7 tubes. Many have found the Jolida to be the best CDP there is. I can't imagine any better. There are two major reviews done on the Jolida using stock tubes; check them out, but bare in mind with better tubes the reviews would have been even more spectacular.