I think it depends on what you have in your system. I have a ECM-1mk2 and love it. It can image like nothing I have ever heard before. Huge sound stage and very, very smooth. Musical is the term I would use to describe it, very engaging. It does a wonderful job of translating the emotion of the music you are listening to, it very slowly pulls you in, and you don't even notice--what more could you want? I can listen to music for hours without any fatigue at all no matter what kind of music I am listening to. My system consists of tube equipment--BATVK75SE and BATVK50SE. Not sure how it sounds with solid state, but in my system it is nothing short of amazing!!! Be ready, it is a beast at almost fifty pounds, but you know right away it is a real work of art. And the way the logo glows in the dark from the top of the unit is a really nice touch.
Cary 306/200 or Electrocopaniet EMC-1??
I have seen a lot written here and at the Asylum about how wonderful these two players are and I would imagine anyone with either of them will be very happy. However, I haven't seen much direct comparisons of the EMC-1 and 306/200 (usually the EMC is compared to the 303)and since these both have upsampling up to 192 and are very similar in spec and price (within 1,000.00 list and I hear the 306 can go for less) I would like to know if anyone has any thoughts on how these two units would compare to each other in an otherwise neutral system. I would guess that they are quite similar (warm, analogue sound).