ECM1, Audio Aero Capitole, or Sim Audio Eclispe?

I have heard all three above, and here is my top 3

1. Audio Aero
2. EMC1
3. Sim Audio

Very personal choice. Havent heard the Chord DAC 64 Yet

Cheers
Xav

What about the Gamut CD-1, shouldn't that be considered in the short list? Alot less money and I understand its preformance is at the same levle as those listed as well as the Audio Meca Mephisto (which should also probably be on your short list).

cd

Don't know if it helps, but at one point Soundstage reviewed the original Capitole, and I seem to recall the reviewer compared and contrasted it with his experience with the Eclipse. Good luck!

I had the Eclipse, and now own the Capitole. Eclipse- excellent detail retrieval and 'air', awesome bass. Capitole- also excellent detail retrieval, bass not as huge, but more palpability/organic sound, especially with vocals.

Also, with the Eclipse, I needed a preamp and a DCS upsampler to really get the utmost out of it- the Capitole replaced 3 'boxes' with only one...

Smj refer to my thread comparing the AA AM ECM, Bwhite does a review like no "professional" reviewer can do. He simply outdoes every mag review. Bwhite gives you a feel for these top players that the "hi-fi" mags DO NOT. Granted the mag critics do the best job they can, but they fall way short of what Bwhite describes.