He had pretty much the Level One Plus (+) with better parts put in. I have done some comparisons and I prefereed it to some other the other highly rated CDPs at double the price. Even the SS output sounded pretty good, it was real close with the tube output being slightly softer and with slightly more tube mid range magic and rounder bass notes. I just compared the Shanling to my Sony SCD-777ES with an Electrocompaniet DAC. The Sony/Electro combo had a wider soundstage, deeper bass but the Shanling in the tube output stage had better center image with more of a tube magic in the vocals which were slightly more forward sounding. I prefered the Shanling for the vocals but perferred the S/E combo for the wider sounstage. My wife preferred the S/E combo because she said she likes the vocals a little more back than forward. Maybe if I can find a tube DAC that throws a wide soundstage?
Happy Listening.
Happy Listening.