I have had mine for nearly a year now. Its a stock unit. The Underwood Modified Units are killer but of course cost more. I Purchased mine new from HCMAudio at a very good price (good people). I have friends who have more expensive units but they do not sound better. I would purchase again. I would highly recommend even to my best friend. I find it a terrific value for the investment on better quality playback.
There are better units to be sure but I'm thinking one needs to invest nearly twice as much to begin noticing any meaningful difference. (The Underwood modified Maverick adds about $400 or so to the cost.)
I really enjoy the sound I get from mine and I am particular. I also find the upsampling makes a quality difference (a point I strongly disagree with the critics on). The Maverick on my system does wonders for redbook and really performs exceptionally with SACD. It treats HDCD as redbook which is unfortunate. The remote is very good. And I like the looks of the unit.
When I bought the Maverick I tried using a digital interconnect but found the analog interconnect to sound better. Upgrading the power cord and getting a higher quality interconnect cable helped take the edge off of the upper end and create a richer midrange and base that thumps one's breastbone, even at low playing volume.
I seek a more natural sound. I do not seem to get any sound coloration with the Maverick.
I am listening to Beck's "Sea Change" SACD on the Maverick right now at low volume and it is playing back nearly as though some of the musicians are in the room with me. Before that I had Patricia Barber's "Split" playing which is redbook. Ms. Barber WAS in my room, the sound was so real. Before that I put on an old Traffic "John Barleycorn Must Die" cd I have from the early 80's (great music but unfortunately a terrible recording and terrible cd production with unnatural sound quality -- over-pronounced high end and muffled midrange and base, if that makes communication sense) and the upsampling did a whole lot to improve the sound quality.
The system this is on at my home has 3 cd players (I have 5 cd players totally across a couple of audio systems so lots of comparison), one being a newer professional cd recorder/player by Tascam.
I am into analog (SOTA Nova V vacuum tt, Origin Live Incognito arm, Shelter 90x cart, Art Audio Vinyl One phono preamp and a PS Audio GCPH phono preamp on a second SOTA vacuum tt). I only mention this because I have some good comparison on sound achievement. I find the Maverick to perform somewhat close to analog. I have 2500+ lps and probably around 2600 cds and listen to music a lot so lots of comparisons.
Value of this system is probably around $35k to give you a general idea of what I'm using the Maverick with.
Hope this was helpful.
There are better units to be sure but I'm thinking one needs to invest nearly twice as much to begin noticing any meaningful difference. (The Underwood modified Maverick adds about $400 or so to the cost.)
I really enjoy the sound I get from mine and I am particular. I also find the upsampling makes a quality difference (a point I strongly disagree with the critics on). The Maverick on my system does wonders for redbook and really performs exceptionally with SACD. It treats HDCD as redbook which is unfortunate. The remote is very good. And I like the looks of the unit.
When I bought the Maverick I tried using a digital interconnect but found the analog interconnect to sound better. Upgrading the power cord and getting a higher quality interconnect cable helped take the edge off of the upper end and create a richer midrange and base that thumps one's breastbone, even at low playing volume.
I seek a more natural sound. I do not seem to get any sound coloration with the Maverick.
I am listening to Beck's "Sea Change" SACD on the Maverick right now at low volume and it is playing back nearly as though some of the musicians are in the room with me. Before that I had Patricia Barber's "Split" playing which is redbook. Ms. Barber WAS in my room, the sound was so real. Before that I put on an old Traffic "John Barleycorn Must Die" cd I have from the early 80's (great music but unfortunately a terrible recording and terrible cd production with unnatural sound quality -- over-pronounced high end and muffled midrange and base, if that makes communication sense) and the upsampling did a whole lot to improve the sound quality.
The system this is on at my home has 3 cd players (I have 5 cd players totally across a couple of audio systems so lots of comparison), one being a newer professional cd recorder/player by Tascam.
I am into analog (SOTA Nova V vacuum tt, Origin Live Incognito arm, Shelter 90x cart, Art Audio Vinyl One phono preamp and a PS Audio GCPH phono preamp on a second SOTA vacuum tt). I only mention this because I have some good comparison on sound achievement. I find the Maverick to perform somewhat close to analog. I have 2500+ lps and probably around 2600 cds and listen to music a lot so lots of comparisons.
Value of this system is probably around $35k to give you a general idea of what I'm using the Maverick with.
Hope this was helpful.