trying to decide between Cary 303/300 and BAT CD

synergy with one brand

Jim or any one else who would care to comment, what tubes did you go with on the amp change? I noticed in the manual the 6550's were an acceptable replacement. Any opinion on the change to those?

Ted

I am using SED el34's for the power tubes, Tele el84's and RCA 12BZ7's for the small tubes. Jim

I haven't heard the Cary 303/300 so I can't comment on it...
But I recently bought a BAT VK-D5.I had been looking to replace my Jolida JD-100( which I truly adored but wanted to improve upon the Detail)..
I purchased the Audio Aero Prima based on rave reviews by trusted ears...
and although it provided the detail I was looking for I found it Dry sounding and one-dimensional. I am definitely in the minority opinion regarding this player's sound...I assume it was not synergenic with my system...

Enter the BAT VK-D5....I have owned it for several months now and I have not had even one moment of "uh, oh"....it is sweet sounding without being mushy and brings out the most incredible, layered Detail...especially in large orchestral...it convinced me that the Source is capable of manipulating Soundstage width and depth...
every time I listen I get goosebumps and am thanful that I took a chance on an older player like this...I can only imagine that the SE version must be quite amazing...
If you can get your hands on a well taken care of VK-D5 and try it in your system you may find nirvana too...
Susan

Tube CD is interesting, and can be good, but I find the most real sounding and very high build quality is in the Wadia, try what you can first, but with anything there is good and not so desirable with any type of equipment, build quality and sound go wadia for digital, the Bat is a close second for a different sound but will be softer on the bass, cary is good but a little bit pricey I think used in comparison and not the same build quality as the other two transport wise.