Also Dealer Disclaimer,
I too am a Cary dealer, to Goldprint, your endorsement sounds like you took it off the Cary website, you give no description of the Cary's salient virtues sonically and you don't list anything else you have compared it to.
I would agree that Cary's top players are indeed very good.
A more relevant discussion would be how do they compare to some of the other excellent front ends from Naim, Esoteric, etc.
I have heard the Acute and it too is excellent, only someone who has compared both in the same system can make a valid comparison.
The other issue would be is either of these players the right product for the gentleman in question.
If tubes are being used to soften his sound, would either of these players do the trick? Would a DAC be better and more practical?