And if it happens to be neither of those two?

At this moment in time I'd say the best CD player regardless of price is ARC's Referece CD7. Close seconds would be Meridian's 808i Signature and the Wadia 861se.

Under $6k I would say the best players are:

1. A tie between Classe's CDP-202 and ARC's own CD3 MKII.
2. Ayre Acoustic's C-5xe

My friend has a Linn CD12, and it's truly impressive. I'm not sure I've heard a Redbook front end that comes close to its level of liquidity and ease yet.

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My friend has a Linn CD12, and it's truly impressive. I'm not sure I've heard a Redbook front end that comes close to its level of liquidity and ease yet.

Linnn makes some good stuff. My local dealer carries them as well as ARC, he too is of the opinion that ARC's CD7 is as good as digital gets right now. You oughta listen to it Jeff, it's breathtaking.

I gotta go with Alex Peychev's players.

APL Hi Fi is the company.

His Denon based 3910 (I may have the model number wrong) is spectacular.

I've heard his Esoteric based model, too. Superlative.

I'm still hoping for that Lotto win, and then one of those babies will be mine!

The dCS P8i is the best single box digital front end that I have heard. It slightly edged out the Ayre C 5 on CD, on SACD they were neck and neck. The dCS is more than twice the price

Pop/Rock : Classe CDP-100 (or the newer model)
Classic/Jazz: Plinius CD-101 (a Player which Paul Bolin use)

Any opinion on the Musical Fidelity KW DM 25 System?

There are 3 cd players in my list.Wadia 861se , Byrmester 001 and the one i would have bought,Accuphase 75v

I was able to compare the ARC CD7 and the AYRE C5xe at Optimal Enchantment in Santa Monica recently.

No contest. The Ayre blows the ARC away, and it's not even close!

I bought the AYRE C5xe in a second. It is to die for. I have never heard anything sound as good, or even close, except the dcs at $14,000 (and in comparing the dcs to the AYRE, one hears VERY little difference).

The ARC, at $9000, does not even sound as good to me as the AYRE C7 at $3000 (although they are close). ARC is being lapped in this race; they are outclassed.

I am using the AYRE with an ARC LS26 preamp and Vandersteen Model 3A speakers/ 2W subs and I am definitely hearing some truly beautiful things...whoa!!! This is what it's all about.

With your set up it makes the case go away very for bad sounding digital recordings...except that we all know they do exist and not even the DCS P8 can fix some of them.

You will be having a most joyous sounding Christmas.

Regards,

I have about 1400 CDs and maybe 70 SACDs, and 5 to 10 percent of them are real crap, for one reason or another; mostly because they were poorly engineered generally, but in some cases due to the early Sony converters used in mastering.

I would classify 30% as excellent, and the rest fall in between somewhere.

An interesting disc which dramatically demonstrates differences in production quality is the Mercury "Hands Across the Sea" CD. The first 8 tracks were recorded in 1958 and the sound quality is a "10"; the dynamics and sonic purity are just amazing. It is like standing on the curb at the Rose Parade with the band in your face! The other 12 tracks were recorded in 1956 and the dynamics and purity are just not quite there; it's not that they are bad recordings, they are just not in the same class as the first 8 tracks. The difference is obvious on even a fair sound system.

Some of the worst, most grungy sound I have ever heard on any CD is on certain TELARC issues from the 1980s; the engineers must have had defective hearing aids or something!

Happy holidays, Jim!

Not too late to cast a vote I hope!

Back in my DINKY days I used to have the four-box dCS rig and very good it sounded too, although I think it is stretching the definition of a "CD player" somewhat. That would be right up there, however I have heard at least one that I would swear was better. Yes, better than the dCS four-box!! Do not adjust your sets!

I recently had the opportunity to compare the new Nagra CDC head-to-head with the EMM CDSA SE and the mbl 1531 (life's a bitch isn't it?) at my local dealer. System was a Boulder 1012/1060 driving mbl 116s (apparently Jeff Nelson himself had been there a week or so earlier to check out the dealer and set things up as he had just taken on the brand) and it sounded absolutely jaw-dropping. That was a memorable morning! Anyway, playing excerpts from about twenty of my own, pretty varied CDs I concluded that at least in that set-up I strongly preferred the Nagra, so that would have to get my vote.

I continue to be amazed how much more musicality can be wrung from 16/44.1. The CD is dead. Long live the CD!