Different CD Player

I don't think it would be much of an upgrade, if at all.
The Cary is pretty good, IMHO.

I think going up to an Audio Aero Capitole II would be an upgrade, as would a few other players, especially some of the modded Denons or the modded Resolution Audio Opus 21.
(Although, I am not sure about any of these as far as reading cdr's. I know my (unmodded) Opus 21 sometimes has trouble with certain CDRs, but with other CDRs, it doesn't.) If it were me, the AA Capitole II would be the one I would get.

It would help if you were to give us a budget, so we could make appropriate recommendations.

Well the Marantz and Meridian players are a different direction from the Cary sound. IMHO, it would be a upgrade, but some may disagree. The Cary is more neutral and transparent, while the Marantz/Meridian will be richer tonally and more musical. Whether it is an upgrade is up to you.

John

I'd consider having your Cary Modded by Reference Audio Mods.

I had them mod my transport and DAC and am still amazed about how good they sound.

I auditioned the Cary 303/200 in my own system and although it was good, no contest against the McCormack UDP-1 Deluxe which I tried and kept.

The McCormack is ULTRA clean and neutral, neither warm nor cold and has a precise, very clean and pretty top end. With the right CD's it's very listenable, which is saying a lot for me as I am very partial to LP's.

The McCormack does respond very favorably to interconnect and AC cords so if you get one on a trial basis, plug in a few of your favorite brands to determine what works in your system.

If a McCormack Deluxe is out of your budget new, snag an older (non Deluxe) version here at Audiogon and return it to the factory for the Deluxe upgrade. I think that's about $500.00 and supposedly after the factory is done there is no difference between the earlier and later version. Good luck !

your going latteral. the nmarantz is only good if you want sacd. the meridian is very good also but old. if you want just great redbook look at the consonance 2.2mk reference 2k retail get it new a little less. amazing sound with a 500 mod to the tube and triodes and capicitors. great review and warm tube sound

To Getheleadout, Did you have a 303/200 modified by RAM?
If so,how much was the upgrade?

No, CEC trans and Musical Fidelity DAC. Trans was about $1,800 and DAC about $1,100. The price all depends on how much you have done.

But it really doesn't matter. RAM can and does modify everything out there. And there's no product that can't be improved through modding.

I'd suggest you give them a call or email and read their web site.

They're very informative and will explain exactly how they can improve your Cary.