I heard the CDP in a friend's system. I liked the sound of that player. Is it a lean sounding player? That is hard to say unless one were comparing it with something else. I heard it in direct comparison with the Naim CDS3. I preferred the CDS3, which sounded warmer than the Nagra (I happen to like the Naim sound for CD, I own a CD555), but the Naim does cost more. The Nagra was also a bit more dynamically restricted than the Naim. Still, it was a nice sounding player.
I recall that the Nagra had some kind of odd operational quirk, perhaps having to do with the remote control, but, it probably isn't that big a deal because I cannot recall what was the issue.
While I only heard it in comparison to the Naim, I would hazard a guess that used players by the likes of Accuphase and MBL would be on the warmer side, while EMM and the higher end Esoterics would be more like the Nagra. If you can find a used Linn CD12, that is another very good older player.
The thing with products like the Nagra, if you can get it at a decent price, if you don't like it, you can resell it at a pretty decent price.
I recall that the Nagra had some kind of odd operational quirk, perhaps having to do with the remote control, but, it probably isn't that big a deal because I cannot recall what was the issue.
While I only heard it in comparison to the Naim, I would hazard a guess that used players by the likes of Accuphase and MBL would be on the warmer side, while EMM and the higher end Esoterics would be more like the Nagra. If you can find a used Linn CD12, that is another very good older player.
The thing with products like the Nagra, if you can get it at a decent price, if you don't like it, you can resell it at a pretty decent price.