Cary 306 SACD

System: Cary 211 AE mono's, Cary 1610 mono's, Ruark Excalibur speakers, Aesthetix Io Sig w/dual power supplies, AVID Acutus/SME IV/Benz LP. Power cords are PS Audio, interconnects and speaker cables Nordost Valkyrja (Valhalla for the 306-SACD). Digital is Cary 303-300 and now Cary 306-SACD (303-300 is going in second system).

I still really enjoy the 303-300 for CD. I was not at all prepared for the step up in playback of red book CD from the 306-SACD. It sounds more like analog playback than CD. All the typical audiophile attributes got better - air, soundstage, palpability, texture, bass.

The most obvious differences are the soundstage (wider, taller and deeper and extends in to the room) and the bass. The bass on the 306-SACD is really incredible. Thunderous, taut, agile and subterranean. The 306-SACD also has a smoother and more musical presentation than the 303-300.

It is hard to believe that these kinds of improvements are possible.

I used to have a 306-200 and 308T and always intended to have 2 CD players. These 2 are a paradigm shift in CD playback.

Also, SACD is just blowing my mind. It is way better than CD (for well mastered and recorded SACD's) and very close to analog in sound.

Check them out at your dealer and let us know your listening impressions.

Robm321 - All my software is redbook and I really can't see myself replacing hundreds of my favorite CDs with SACD - even if they were available in that format, which many are not. The quality of the redbook playback is what I'm interested in with the 306 and for me, the SACD is just an added feature that I may or may not use.

once you hear what it does with SACD'S you will use it.

How 306sacd is compared with other good cdplayers in redbook cds playback, for example the new audio aero reference, reimyo, esoteric, etc ?

Anyone know if the 306 SACD can play Dual Discs?