New Cary CD player303/300 w/ tubes

The player accepts all types of 12 volt tubes. You want a rich/full sound that rounds the highs>>>12BH7 tubes.

I own this player. The only way I was able to replicate the "arc/previous on right" was to purposely reverse polarity on one channel. Not saying the dealer had a "flawed" demo, but it wouldn't surprise me. Anyway, I basically agree with your comments. Also tube rolling can, to some extent-tune the sound to give you the in room response that you desire.

FWIW, this machine has a very long break-in time. Like 400+ hours, so don't go too crazy trying to dial things in. I'm using a solid state amp, so was able to hear all the wild changes it went thru. And I advise that you do use the supplied 18g power cord to start out with.