I too heard very favorable reviews about the Consonance 2.2 Reference CD player. I never had the opportunity to hear one in person, but, because I had heard how it won ''best in show'' at the Europian Consumer Electronics Show,and got favorable reviews from dealers,( The dealer I bought mine from said it was the best CD player he had ever heard )and thinking it would be an upgrade from my present player, a Rega Jupiter, I deciced to buy one. The one I bought was a store demo that had a couple of hundred hours on it , so it was pretty well broken in. I sat and listened all afternoon to CD's I know well, and compared the two players, and my Rega Jupiter beat it easily. The Jupiter has a much wider soundstage, better bass , and to my ears is more musical. And if you like to ''rock and roll '', the Jupiter is a much better player. I will give credit to the Consonance for rich midrange, and nice detail, but thats about it. In my opinion, it is little better than average, not this ''super''player it has been hyped up to be. I sent it back to the dealer. Sorry folks, but thats how it sounded to me.