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Best Sounding CD / SACD player under 15K

My budget is 15K for a new or preowned CD/SACD player.

Not happy with the McIntosh MCD-500 player. My vintage Denon CD player out performs it. I was very disappointed in the McIntosh MCD500 player. I had the McIntosh MC601 amps and they were disappointing too. No more McIntosh gear for me.

I am on the market now and would like to keep under 15K for a new or preowned CD player. Also no multi format players .

Thanks for any suggestions.
joefama

Showing 2 responses by kiwi_1282001

kiwi_1282001
312 posts
 
Been through a number of players over the years. Currently (and for some time) been using the Cary Audio 306 PRO SACD/HDCD/CD/DAC.

The players high resolution with great bass and a hint of warmth which made it a far more attractive buy for me compared to options from EMM Labs, Esoteric and dCS which were great number crunches but I felt they presented the music in a somewhat detached, cool and sterile fashion. Further, the Cary is one of the few players out there that keeps SACD native AND supports HDCD which I rather like. Moreover, the Cary is one of the few players on the market that does true upsampling with multiple DAC's.

More details on my system and room here
kiwi_1282001
312 posts
 
Hi Milpai,

I have heard the Esoteric K-05 but not in my own system - so it is not possible to arrive at any meaningful comparison. From what I heard (at an audio show) the K-05 seemed competent but of course I was listening to it as part of an unfamiliar system.

The K-05 does usefully sport a 192 kHz/24-bit asynchronous DAC via USB.
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