Electrocompaniet EMC II CD Player

I tried the XLR to RCA adapter thing and perceived no difference between it and straight RCA to RCA. My pre is a Supratek Syrah. It is possible that there was a slight audible difference that I did not appreciate as I was not overly patient in assessing the adapter setup. I've also heard the EMC in another setup using both straight XLR and straight RCA and while I perceived a sonic improvement with XLR, I was not motivated to dump my Syrah.

My intentions are to first purchase and listen to the Spider on my EMC and then, at a later date, have Steve Nugent install his transport mods only. Not sure if I'll go for the full blown mods at this time.

Subaruguru, all those decent parts must be very discrete indeed. I must admit to not being a techie type, but to these eyes, there just ain't much there any way you slice it. I've also heard similar opinions from those much more technically oriented than I. Take a look under the hood of a BAT D5 cdp. Then you'll see $4500 worth of parts and solid build quality. Now, does the D5 sound as good? IMO, no, not in most areas. It does however sound better in two. Focus and the quality of voices. I'm referring to the original D5 with NOS Amperex and Siemens tubes only and not the SE version which is inferior IMO. As for those jaws dropping? I'm not surprised that those accustomed to listening to budget gear were impressed. There's no doubt the EMC will easily outperform something like a Rega Planet. It better for the $$$.

For those of you who have one, what color is your Spider? Mine's blue. At first I thought I was getting silver, and I was a little disappointed. But, now I kinda like the fact it matches the blue display.

Aluminum Silver (not polished)

Jm88...haven't heard the BAT, but the vocals in my XLR'd EMC-1 are clearly rendered and spookily real. Tubes do this well, too, of course, but sometimes via a mid-band spectral "bump". The power supplies' diodes mod clearly brought the stage forward a bit, somewhat enhancing vocal "push". Steve's modding the transport suspension? Seeing as that's the EMC-1's raison d'etre I'm a bit surprised. I would have thought he'd concentrate on $$ caps and wire bits....