A 2nd hand Meridian G08.2 is a wonderful player. I found mine for approx. €1150 in 2014.
Slightly matte (but hifi sounds often too bright compared to the concert), and laid-back => should match your needs.Very good D/A conversion, renders a full-bodied, natural sound. Rips the CD on-the-fly, stores the bits in a ROM, then converts them brilliantly.
The only snag: uses a slot-loader. That ugly thing had been introduced by Steve Jobs on the MAC, so all the hifi industry jumped in the bandwagon. The slot produced extremely tiny micro-abrasions on the poly-carbonate layer of my CDs (not "scratches", sthg ways lighter that could be seen only under the light of desk LED lamp, under a particular angle).
Slightly matte (but hifi sounds often too bright compared to the concert), and laid-back => should match your needs.Very good D/A conversion, renders a full-bodied, natural sound. Rips the CD on-the-fly, stores the bits in a ROM, then converts them brilliantly.
The only snag: uses a slot-loader. That ugly thing had been introduced by Steve Jobs on the MAC, so all the hifi industry jumped in the bandwagon. The slot produced extremely tiny micro-abrasions on the poly-carbonate layer of my CDs (not "scratches", sthg ways lighter that could be seen only under the light of desk LED lamp, under a particular angle).