TECHNICS SL-G700. I bought one a year ago. I love it! If you can get it for a $500 discount, get one. This player is part of the relaunching of high end products from Technics owned by Panasonic. Technics has been silent in new products since ? the late 1980's.They have come back and launched top of the line products made in Japan including a couple of Network players such as this Grand Class SL-G700, a full line of their fantastic turntables, and a Grand Class SU-G700 receiver that is modern yet looks like an older receiver. All of their newly launched products are built much like old Sony & Technics made in Japan products that we love with attention to detail and quality. The full line can be seen here:
https://www.technics.com/us/
What I love about this unit is that it combines the OLD with the NEW: CD, SACD, HD music, HD streaming, and Internet Radio.The unit comes pre-loaded with YouTube Music, Google Play Music, Pandora, Spotify, Tune In, iHeart Radio, Tidal, MQA decoding, and Deezers. It can play any internet music source (I recommend Amazon HD Music) which can be sent to the player via direct computer link, USB, Blue Tooth, chromecast, or airplay. What I love even more is that it has an Asahi Kasei Microdevice (AKM) top of the line DAC AK4497 chip. AKM made the chip for the still highly regarded Play Station 1. It has a a very full sounding as well as detailed that makes even the best Burr Brown DAC chips sound tame in comparison. I do not think there is any better sound reproduction to be had, and I have a couple dozen other players here to compare it to.
The unit is built like an old Sony ESD tank CD player with its high quality DAC & caps, a four section rigid configuration, highly rigid drive mechanism, and a top notch brushed aluminum exterior (silver or black) weighing it at 29#. They are not cheap but well worth their $2999 price. I believe they are made to order as no Technics dealers seem to have any on display as they sell all that they order. Mine was ordered through Listen Up and took two months to arrive, a month sooner than I expected.
What are the negatives on this player? It is similar to some of the older Sony SACD players in that is takes its time and is somewhat slow to process things. The remote operates the CD player, SACD player, and the SU-G700 receiver if purchased. There is a separate Technics App to download to your phone or iPad/tablet that operates the music selections from the internet. The owners manual is basic and one has to download the full 100+ page manual from Technics on line to fully understand how to operate everything. It has USB ports on front and back. You can connect from a computer with digital coaxial cable, optical cable, or with Chromecast or Airplay2 both of which work very well.
https://www.technics.com/us/
What I love about this unit is that it combines the OLD with the NEW: CD, SACD, HD music, HD streaming, and Internet Radio.The unit comes pre-loaded with YouTube Music, Google Play Music, Pandora, Spotify, Tune In, iHeart Radio, Tidal, MQA decoding, and Deezers. It can play any internet music source (I recommend Amazon HD Music) which can be sent to the player via direct computer link, USB, Blue Tooth, chromecast, or airplay. What I love even more is that it has an Asahi Kasei Microdevice (AKM) top of the line DAC AK4497 chip. AKM made the chip for the still highly regarded Play Station 1. It has a a very full sounding as well as detailed that makes even the best Burr Brown DAC chips sound tame in comparison. I do not think there is any better sound reproduction to be had, and I have a couple dozen other players here to compare it to.
The unit is built like an old Sony ESD tank CD player with its high quality DAC & caps, a four section rigid configuration, highly rigid drive mechanism, and a top notch brushed aluminum exterior (silver or black) weighing it at 29#. They are not cheap but well worth their $2999 price. I believe they are made to order as no Technics dealers seem to have any on display as they sell all that they order. Mine was ordered through Listen Up and took two months to arrive, a month sooner than I expected.
What are the negatives on this player? It is similar to some of the older Sony SACD players in that is takes its time and is somewhat slow to process things. The remote operates the CD player, SACD player, and the SU-G700 receiver if purchased. There is a separate Technics App to download to your phone or iPad/tablet that operates the music selections from the internet. The owners manual is basic and one has to download the full 100+ page manual from Technics on line to fully understand how to operate everything. It has USB ports on front and back. You can connect from a computer with digital coaxial cable, optical cable, or with Chromecast or Airplay2 both of which work very well.