ultimate final word best cd set up

Audio Aero Prima CDP. I believe it retails for $2200.You won't find a better player at the price or double.

emmlabs dac 6 w/ philips transport. i'm not kidding - cd playback sounds like vinyl, only quieter. i can't wait to hear it with the cdsd transport.

i've also owned the RA opus 21 and, for the price, you will not beat it. there is no dedicated cd player between the two that i would buy. keep in mind that the dac 6 with transport costs four times what the opus 21 does, so value and sound wise, this speaks volumes about the opus 21.

and i'm generally one who gets tired of superlatives when describing audio equipment, but let me say that the difference between the two is not subtle. the emmlabs is, quite frankly, better than my previous vinyl rig of a teres 365, SME V arm, and van den hul colibri cartridge. i never thought cd would best vinyl - but now i believe it has. oh, and the sacd playback on is even a wee bit better than that, as well.

Pedrillo, in the context of what you're trying to achieve (assuming budget around $4K to $6K), you should put the Lector CDP-7T on your audition list, especially if you're starting to love operas. This CD player is about music, not hi-fi. It's excellent with voices.
Do a search on Lector. There's a group of members who swear by it.

Can you spell Northstar.Do yourself a favor and check the 192 transport and matching dac.
Cheers

I second Alex s work at APL . My decked out 1000 was so stunning i sold it and moved up to his current top of the line mod , the Denon 3910 . The 1000 clearly bettered my Bat vkd 5 se on redbook and sacd was excellent to boot.