friend is looking for good $800-$1200 cd player

the marantz sa8260 is a very musical sounding unit and very close to a analog sound. that is very unusual for a digital source especially under $1000.

it is one of the few sources that is muscially invloving and that i can listen to a whole cd all the way through.

i compared it to a dodson dac, sony 333,555,999, aclemist, and electrocomponiet (big $$$) and philips 963.

there is a STEEP law of diminishing returns on digital sources despite state of the art and state of the art $$$.

i would say it is "class a" for the price it is at. i would be hard pressed to find a better unit under $2k. please note it does retain the marantz house sound, either you will love it or hate it.again, its greatest strength is its musicality ( like a linn turntable, once you hear it, you will know).

btw, there is quality issues with the TOC/servo/transport with some units, once it warms up, it wont read redbooks cd's. marantz service has had my 8260 more than me. this is the second time in for repair for the same thing. i dont hink they repaired the first time, it has been frustrating.

also, if you do buy one - get it from a authorized dealer. the warranty is 3 years and non transferable

hope that helps !!

Mike

I still think the balanced Theta Miles player is a steal at less than $1000.00 used. Depending on your system, you can get the advantage of the built in analogue volume control and bypass a preamp. Highly recommended.

The Vecteur L4 used is really an incredible player and a very well regarded transport as well. Very impressive.

New CEC player...around $500 check it out on Audio Advisor.com

In response to Sugarbrie opinion: does it worth to mod NAD c541i to accept IEC powercords? Its cost may be comparable to the NAD's price...