When I recently bought a used CEC CD player from Glen at Audio Two, it came in a Atoll Integrated box.

It might be safe to say, that Glen is the guy who has extensive experience with both. Call, and he'll spend the time, as I said, if he's not busy with anyone else. I spoke with him about you (I was calling about something else), to see if you'd contacted him, and he said he was happy to spend th time, as it's rare to find someone your age who's interested in fidelity.

Sadly, it's becoming quite rare. All due to that sack of shit called digital. Destroy the source of the audio business for.... money. Tear down the idea of fidelity itself. What a retarded bunch of assholes.

Pardon the rant. I'd like to kick the folks who pushed the CD (the digital version of a 8-track with respect to quality) square in the balls. The business still hasn't recovered, in terms of actual fidelity. 25 years later, the original common analog music source is still inherently superior to the best that digital has, that is commonly available. Meaning, what is on the shelves now, in music source 'quality', is of lesser quality than that on the shelves in the year 1980.

Pick up Rega Planet 2000 on Audiogon before you're able to afford the Apollo. Planet 2k blows Oppo out of the water.

Re: Rega vs Creek, it's a tough call. Rega is a bit more lush and musical. Creek is more neutral. The differences are fairly subtle. I don't know if I would be able to choose one over the other.

Re: Headphones, I like Sennheiser phones much better than AKG. I find AKG too dry and lifeless for my tastes. As far as the headphone jack is concerned, both have a decent jack. Not great, but adequate.