ML 390S vs dCS Verdi/Purcell/Elgar Plus

Bill, i have listened to the above and still prefer my Linn CD-12. especially for classical listening the continuousness and musicality will be very rewarding. i have a Marantz SA-1 that gives me a great reference to judge the CD-12 against. for dedicated cd listening it is hard to beat....and it will make your cd life simple and beautiful.

i have not heard the Audio Aero 192/24 Capitol which would be another strong contender.

Mike, I find the Capitole excellent -- but not quite in the same class as CD-12, the big Lurne, Burmester, Goldmund or Boulder. Haven't carefully auditioned the big ML, so I can't venture an opinion. Also, I listen to classical, so others' mileage *will* vary.

On the other hand, Koen lives in Europe, so price-comparisons could be different, i.e. ML would be expensive vs. A-Aero, Goldmund, Burmester (superb sound that never really gripped me... I wonder why).

Nevertheless, I subscribe to Cornfed's idea of the (expensive) Boulder: you get a good pre (that is sold separately, & at a price, if I'm not mistaken) into the bargain.

Cornfed: could you compare the sound of the Boulder vs. a MLev -- just to give Koen a benchmark?
Cheers!

o.k if your have a 8000 cd and you looking for something for all your life as a cd player.
if you can buy as a player go for teac p-0 or cec tl-0mk2
and cream de la cream for converter is kondo's new ongaku converter and digital cable think about kharma enigma for power cord fim gold and jps aluminata.

I wouldn't spend that much on CD replay. The CDs themselves probably won't last as long as the players, sorry to say, making big bucks digital a little silly in my opinion.
But money is meant to spend, yeah oh yeah....

Every once in a while I re-read something stupid I wrote and this is one of them. What I meant to say was the the ML39, SCD-1, RA CD55 and EMC-1 I were in the same performance window. Clearly the high end separates of ML aren't.

Bill E.