I was very interested in this post as I too was in the market for a new CD player. I have been using a Jolida 601 and oddly enough found it very competitive with everything I tried it against. I tried Pioneers new elite DVD, the whole Rotel Line, Linn, Ah! Tjoeb, Rega Planet, the Cary 301, 303, and 306, and other players. Every one I tried, was very different, it was shocking actually. I can see why the responses are so varied in this post. For me, there was a clear winner though, the Cary 303. Every player I found myself saying, "this apect is very nice, but it sounds a little of in this other area". But when I finally heard the Cary, it was, "Oh finally I have nothing to say, it is all there - or nothing is there!". Nothing was odd about it, all I heard was great music. All the tube players where kind of thick sounding, almost soupy. The others were digital sounding and kind of flat. Oddly enough the 303 has no tubes in it, unlike the earlier 301 which does. Other models in the runner up catagories I liked were the Rotel 991 as it had very nice imaging, and the Rega, which had a very nice sound but was a little thin. The Cary just kind of disappeared, I didn't think about it, just felt captivated by the music and still am as I listen to it now. This is why I listen to music in the first place so bought it. I got it from the guys at Upscale Audio who have a killer deal on them right now as they bought a bunch of them. The 306 was in my opinion a little better, but only a little, and they had the same general sound. By switching pre amps around, I was able to get all the things I liked in the 306, plus it was over twice as much, so I stuck with the 303. Hope this is helpful.
