Consonance cd-120 vs. Consonance 2.2

I have not heard the 2.2 but have the CD-120 and find it to be a remarkable unit for the money; kind of a poor man's Levinson 390S.

I spoke to the Australian Opera Audio distributor, and the Consonance Reference 2.2 is a CD-120 with the extra valve output stage.

I haven't listened to the CD-120, I own a Ref 2.2. I can say this: that 6h30 valve makes the world of difference, and is worth paying the extra third more in price. The Ref 2.2 creamed all opposition at the price point, all of the others were totally solid state players. But apparently even using the balanced XLR output which bypasses the tube the sound is magnificent. Whether this gives you a CD-120 when using XLR plugs I don't know, one would suspect they'd have tweaked it a little for the extra money, not just added a tubed output stage...

Brilliant CD player, I love it and can't really fault it. By the way, get the Auricap version, it is only marginally more expensive and is a factory option.

I've never heard the CD120 but I have the Consonance 2.2 hooked direct to Musical Fidelity M250's with Vandersteen 2 CE's. It is a great sounding player. IMHO. Every time I've upgraded amps, cords, speaker wires or interconnects, or removed my preamp the 2.2 shows me something new. I would highly recommend it.

Just an aside on this - I was listening to a system that had the Consonance 2.2 and a Perreaux Radiance in it and I was damn sure it sounded like the phase was inverted. Changing the polarity at the speaker fixed the problem, so either the Consonance or the Perreaux reverse phase. I have seen no such reference to this in reviews of either of these products however.