I would just advise hearing one before plunking down your cash. A local shop had one of those 3 you mentioned, with the full blown tube mod, set up for a couple days and it may have been the worst sounding player I have ever heard. I won't say which one because it could have been set up wrong, bad tube, or something, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt. But mushy, no dynamics, tonal response was just plain off. It is not an anti tube thing as I have enjoyed the Jolita and BAT players before. And yes I was familiar with the system it was playing on as I had been in several times to audition some speaker I ended up buying.
"Analog" = bloated, rolled off, soft and mushy?
I don't have much experience with many CD players, but with the few that I do, it's been my experience that tube output stages that supposedly give an "analog" quality to CDs, really sacrifice transparency and excitement. They sound euphonice, but ulitmately, kind of boring.
The last high end player that I owned and loved was a Wadia 860x. I'd like to find a universal player that gives me the Wadia excitement and neutrality, and have considered one of the APL, Exemplar and Modwright modded units, but the best of them use tube output stages, and this really makes me hesitate. Are they "analog" sounding and excellent, because they give you that tube sound, but sacrifice the detail, clarity and drive that I loved in my Wadia? Don't get me wrong, I love tubes, but I'm not so sure they belong in CD players. Am I wrong?
The last high end player that I owned and loved was a Wadia 860x. I'd like to find a universal player that gives me the Wadia excitement and neutrality, and have considered one of the APL, Exemplar and Modwright modded units, but the best of them use tube output stages, and this really makes me hesitate. Are they "analog" sounding and excellent, because they give you that tube sound, but sacrifice the detail, clarity and drive that I loved in my Wadia? Don't get me wrong, I love tubes, but I'm not so sure they belong in CD players. Am I wrong?