Milpai,
It was also a great disappointment to me. I bought my EMM based on the reputation of EMM as a "great firm", the high esteem that Ed Meitner holds in the audio community as a great innovator and because of the positive reports about the CDSA SE.
With all that said, I would have expected a monster product in the CDSA SE, especially with a price tag of $11,500. Frankly, I feel the reports about the CDSA SE were a lot of hype -- not only with regards to the sonic attributes of the unit verses similarly priced units by other manufacturers, but also with regards to the poor build quality of the unit. I tweaked it to death to get the most out of it. But you should not have to tweak a $11,500 unit to death to get the most out of it. And, in the end, you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
I now have the AMR DP-777 that retails for $5,000. There is absolutely no comparison between the two units, IMO. If you put them both on a scale of "dollars for results", the AMR would have to be priced at 10 times the price of the EMM. Opposite the AMR, the EMM does not measure up on any significant parameter except resolution, IMO. The AMR is in a whole other league.
I have yet to read any reports about the poor build quality of the CDSA except as relates to the tray "upgrade". I know there are a lot of people who had the same tray problem but any criticism of EMM was muted. I cannot explain the conspiracy of silence around EMM that protects it from anything but positive reports.
By the way, I believe EMM must have made a good profit on the tray "upgrade." I examined it closely. It was flimsy and the complete underside was made of plastic. Only the top of the tray and the runners were metal. I don't believe it is ethical to bring to market a flawed product at a premium price and then to make a handy profit from forcing customers to "upgrade".
