Shanlilng CD players

I was wondering about the mods too. Does it really transform the Shanling to a new level? Aren't the Music Hall players(and the Onix's) also manufactured by Shanling? The Music Hall players are selling like hot cakes on Audiogon. Perhaps it's because of the price of the Music Hall but I can't imagine the Shanling sounds worse than any of the Music Halls. Any thoughts?

I have a CDT-200 with level one mods and I think it is easily the best CD player that I have ever owned. The sound is fluid and easy to listen to. The level one replaces the 2 tubes for the CD out side and use Burr Browns on the digital side. I highly recommend the Shanling. They do seem to come and go on audiogon though.

So far, 2+ 1- on the Shanling but both +'s have level 1 or better mods. Will the Music Halls with mods sound better than the Shanling with equivalent mods? I would imagine the Shanling will sound better as it's a tube CDP and it costs twice as much.

I am sort of considering getting the Shanling as well. One of the reason is my naive girlfriend, who can't tell the difference between a tonearm and a forearm, fell in love with the appearance of it.

Bigjoe, if you revisit this thread, may I ask what you didn't like about the T100 and what did you replace it with?

Dlstephenson, do you know if there are any major difference between the 100 and the 200 other than HDCD vs SACD?

Thanks.

I have used the CDT 100 for nearly 3 years now and don't see myself changing in the near future. The big test for me is Classical. I rarely played any classical CDs, because of harshness and glare until the Shanling. Now I enjoy them almost as much as Lps. It is a smooth, but detailed player, with a good wide, but not deep soundstage. I had it modded here in the UK, not by Parts Connection, but similar idea, new capacitors, reclocking etc and it clearly improved it still more. However, adding a Marigo Stealth disc stabiliser made an equal improvement, for a lot less money.
In fact I prefer it through the SS not tube output and without upsampling.
I am sure there are better players, but I don't think you can go far wrong with the Shanling, good value for money and good build quality for the price. I have'nt heard the CDT 200, but a review in HiFi News in the UK a couple of years ago, thought it was better on CD than the 100, no experience myself.

hi Kilsho,the tonal balance seemed off to me & the player came off sounding way too bright,i thought it really lacked the tube smoothness,it was replaced with a dynaco cdv-pro.

in all fairness to the player i didnt try different tubes but when i compared it with the dynaco the dyna was a much smoother & better balanced sounding player.