Which multi-CD player is best?

I would suggest a different approach. Instead of a multi-CD player, use a computer hard drive. You can rip your entire collection to a hard drive, uncompressed. Then, take the signal out of the computer in digital through the USB port, feed it to an Apogee Mini-Dac and then into your integrated amp. This will give you incredible sound and incredible convenience. No more discs. Your family can scroll through titles on a computer screen and have all four hundred CD's at their disposal at the click of a mouse. You can get an Apogee Mini-Dac for around $1,000. You'll be amazed at the sound quality. Detailed, accurate, musical, and amazingly natural.

If hardrive filling and backup sounds like to much work consider...
mega changers toslink into Benchmark DAC1($1k).This way down the road you would have a very flexible headphone monitor,passive preamp,dac in your stable.Of course you can subsitute dac of choice.I do this in the HT system with really good results and may go the harddrive route when more self contained fanless products enter the mainstream.

You could simply add a quailty free-standing DAC to your current changer (if it has a digital out connection). Use quality digital cable and possible add a jitter reduction (Monarchy DIP). The add-on DAC either with/without jitter resuction unit would like yield better results than any 400 disc changer that I know of....

Enjoy,

TIC

The Apogee Mini-Dac has a volume control and can be plugged straight into one's amplifiers. That's how I use it in one of my systems. The Apogee, with its USB capability, offers ultimate flexibility as well as wonderful sound. The Apogee also has an excellent clock which eliminates jitter.

Loading CD's into a hard drive uncompressed takes a little bit of time, but the
convenience of having one's entire CD collection available at the click of a mouse, the ability to scroll through Cd's and titles on a screen, and having music available to wife and family with such convenience, eliminating the handling of your discs and cases, more than makes up for the little bit of trouble it takes to load CD's on the hard drive.

I have found that this type of system is extremely wife-friendly. People love it. If you have a party, you can let guests scroll through, create playlists for background music -- and you don't have your CD's and cases out.

My only thing was that I don't like sonic compromise, even with a casual system. So, I experimented with several different types of solutions. Along the way, I tried the Apogee Mini-Dac. Home run. Everything I want in a casual system, convenience without sonic compromise.

Thanks for those ideas. I never really thought about the computer download and will look into that seriously. Sorry about not responding to your replies sooner. My internet connection went kaput for a few days. Thanks again. Robert