DCS Verdi Elgar Purcell VS. Audio Aero Capitole

The Lindemann continues to provide a fertile ground for experimentation, particularly with respect to mechanical isolation which seems to have a dramatic effect on sonics. A few characteristics remain constant. The unit has a liquidity in the midrange and a musical naturalness that I find sorely lacking in most of the competition which makes it very easy to listen to for extended periods. Coupled with that is the ability to penetrate the musical texture and reveal music's subtle inner details, especially throughout the midrange without distortion or harshness. There is, however, a very slight softening of the uppermost treble which does not effect cymbals and their overtones but which is audible. I think that this may yield to better isolation and a change in cabling; only further experimentation will tell.

This thread is bothersome to me.....

Don't read it! You never know when seeing or hearing something that bothers you will cause you to commit a violent act of aggression.

OK, I'll be brave :-) Haven't heard the DCS gear in a couple of years, but it was mechanical sounding to me then compared with the phono in the same system....The AA is musical as the devil, but has a smaller stage and isn't as dynamic as some....Don't know how the Lindemann got on this thread, but it is lacking low level detail and is rolled up top at least with Fred's current thinking on isolation as of last Saturday night....Assuming the microprocessor problems of the AA have been fixed and your preamp has a fairly high input impedance I would go with the AA....The tube output section in the AA is going to be a lot happier driving 50K or higher pots....Fred didn't have that option as his preamp has 10K pots....Is that violent enough? This was bothersome for me as I used to modify a digital outfit, but haven't in a while and the units are out of print....

Rcrump, you will never find THE perfect player. But the Lindemann seems to be perfect enough, for an extremely discerning customer like Fred is, to keep it.
I have been in contact with Fred to help him find the best support for the player, which is Mana-Neuance table and to take a look at his Valhalla ics. There might be a better, switchable interconnect option out there to close the, what you call the 50k to 10k gap of his pre-amp pots.