considering any player over $1000 that does NOT do SACD is a bad choice, IMHO.
The BAT VkD5 is overly warm (syrupy... yuck), to an extreme, at least the one I heard. Forget that. (as a side note, tubed CD players are the answer to the question no one is asking. Tubes are for gain stages. A CD player needs no gain stages. Why are the tubes there? harmonic flavor? noise? a 'buffer' (lame idea IMHO)....)
Under $1000, the XA7ES is hard to beat if you want CD only.
I still think the SCD-1 in the $2-3k range is a killer CD player, an epic SACD player, and ripe for mods if your tastes run in that direction.
Wadia makes some nice stuff that seems really well built, but the stability of the company leaves a lot to be desired. They seem flaky, lacking direction. They have an SACD piece supposedly coming out this fall. It will be pricey, but perhaps worthy of the coin level.
YMMV,
-Ed
The BAT VkD5 is overly warm (syrupy... yuck), to an extreme, at least the one I heard. Forget that. (as a side note, tubed CD players are the answer to the question no one is asking. Tubes are for gain stages. A CD player needs no gain stages. Why are the tubes there? harmonic flavor? noise? a 'buffer' (lame idea IMHO)....)
Under $1000, the XA7ES is hard to beat if you want CD only.
I still think the SCD-1 in the $2-3k range is a killer CD player, an epic SACD player, and ripe for mods if your tastes run in that direction.
Wadia makes some nice stuff that seems really well built, but the stability of the company leaves a lot to be desired. They seem flaky, lacking direction. They have an SACD piece supposedly coming out this fall. It will be pricey, but perhaps worthy of the coin level.
YMMV,
-Ed