Cary 306/200 or Electrocopaniet EMC-1??

Steve, you can contact Santuary of Sound (owner is knowledgeable and honest to deal with).

Steve, here's a link to their site:

http://www.Electrocompaniet.com/new-header.htm

They are a Norwegian company.

Does anyone know of any good Electrocopaniet dealers? And does the company have a web site? Thanks.

I agree with Rlb61 regarding the upsampling issue. I haven't heard the Cary 306 but I do own the EMC-1, which is a fine cdp.

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.

I'd take the Cary over the EC. Although I own a Cary 303/200, I've heard the 306 in a head to head with the EC. Both are fine players. However, IMHO the EC sounded VERY clinical to me, not at all warm. That may be because the upsampling CAN'T be defeated on the EC - it's on all the time. With the Cary, upsampling can be turned on/off at your discretion on the fly.

I have my reservations about upsampling to begin with. I find that it gives a nice boost to some older recordings that may not have been recorded too well, but that it has little effect on newer recordings. I've also found that, to the extent upsampling makes a difference, I prefer 96 to 192 since it sounds warmer ... I've found that there's too much resolution in 192 making it sound sterile/clinical to my ears. Since the EC has 192 undefeatable upsampling, I found it way too harsh for my tastes.

I've heard neither, but go to audioreview.com and there you'll see 33 beautiful praises of the EMC1(and i think those are about the MK1 check the dates) Not even 1 bad comment. The 303 owners comments are no where near the owners of the EMC1. But i don't know you may want to look into the new 64 bit tech. such as Kora Hermes. I've heard the Cary 303/200 and think you can do better elsewhere.