The 851C is superior to.the 840C in everyway imaginable. Had the 840C for many years, upgraded to the 851C and have this player for the last 8 years. The 840C is a good player, but be careful as some of the older ones had some cheap (bad) capacitors which WILL cause player failure. Mine included. Cost about $100 to be repaired and a months down time for repair and shipping both ways.
CD Player Recommendations…
Looking for CD player recommendations that mate well with a Musical Fidelity A308 integrated and Revel F30 speakers. Cabling is Discovery Essential speaker cables and matching Essence interconnects. I’m thinking the player should be on the neutral to perhaps slightly recessed/relaxed mids to synergize with the A308 and F30’s more forward characteristics.