Advice on Cary CD Players or other options.

Kid, I was seriously thinking of moving on from my Cary 308 ,then I tried a VenHaus flavor 4 PC with it and it came into it's own.All problems with an "in you face presentation " evaporated.It replaced a van den Hul Mainstream.

Thank you all for the great advice!

Reubent,

I looked at that Quad but it has a sale pending. Thank you though! I will see if I can't audition one.

Jkaway,

That is a good idea, but I have already sold it. I was using an Audience PowerChord with mine. It is a great player but I wanted to try a higher line model from what I have read. Thanks!

Art, AEW and Steveaudio

Thanks! I think I will seek out a 303/200.

Cheers,

Chris

Yep, the Cary 303/200's a keeper. Try Synergistic cables with it (I found this is by far the best match). The Elrod ESP2 Sig is a great power cord match, although pricey: TG Audio's SLVR works well, too (although it provides a different kind of sound)...

Chris,

Nice Taylor! I have the 814ce with Brazilian Rosewood; I love it. A noticed a Strat in the background as well?

Anyway, I'm in the process of trying out the 303/200 with different cables (you suggested dumping the Straightwire weeks back). I'll keep you posted on the results. If it doesn't work out I'll probably chase down a Naim CD5 or Audio Aero Prima...

What didn't you like about the 308 to make you want to upgrade?

The Cary 303 is built like a tank. The insides look very nice. I opened it up to take pictures just to see!

I had a 303/100 for 2-3 years. A friend has a 303/200. Our view is that it has a dynamic and powerful sound but that it tends to sound a bit grainy and digital. Both of us use relatively neutral tube preamps and non-tube amps. I ended up using my 303 as a transport for a highly modded DAC, for which it did superbly.

Given the build quality of the 303, I am wondering if a SuperClock 3 would be the ticket to make the sound more smooth and analog.

The Quad sounds interesting, esp since it has digital inputs.