Digital as good or better than YOUR analog?

Absolutely right Psychic.

Those who don't work at solving these variables have not achieved maximum performance from their player.

This has always been true of analog and in spite of their convenience, it's required in the digital domain as well.

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(Macintosh keyboard)

Since I'm already posting here.

No, my digital is not as good as my analog rig and I have had two dozen players that I purchased or were loaned to me to make the test.

Heck, in the beginning I waited in anticipation for each new "upgrade" to arrive from Sonic Frontiers, Wadia, Theta, Entec, Audio Research, Krell (etc., etc.).

Many of these are excellent, but in the end, model to model much of the differences are a side ways move. Give up something and get something else.

Several players have been sent to me this last few years to audition in hopes I would post a positive Audiogon review.

Admittedly, even the most expensive CD playback systems I've tested were not as expensive as my analog, but I have had several that were more than $10,000.00, one a great deal more than that.

I kept the Sony 9000 ES because it performs very well for only $700.00. It beat two 10K players and one member of my audio group brought a 20K two piece rig for testing one night with six people voting. At the end of the evening he was so disappointed how it fared against the two extremes (cheap "OK" digital) and (vastly superior analog) that it went up for sale here at Audiogon the same week.

I do not claim the Sony 9000 is a perfect CD player, only that for $700.00 it was pretty darned good and was preferred in listening tests over more expensive players by members of my audio group.

That doesn't mean there may not be a $400.00 player that beats the more expensive players AND my Sony.

The analog was so superior to the visitors 20K digital rig and the Sony, that the differences seemed silly.

Of course all this is relative to what you want and where you want to be. I would practically kill to have digital that would allow me to sell my analog. Imagine picking up CD's at Target when I wanted new music :^)

If you wish to email me privately I will tell you three players that were voted as inferior to the Sony. There were as many as seven people voting in some of these test, at least three are current Audiogon members. I can ask for permission to hand out their email address so you may contact them and confirm if you wish.

Frankly, unless the 10K or 20K player destroys the Sony, (I and my friends believe the opposite is true), I am not willing to part with the cash. Especially when after all is said and done, the 20K player gets killed by my Walker. For me, it's about getting the highest possible performance but not paying for more than I receive.

Email just sent to you. I've listed at least four of the CD / SACD units tested against the Sony.