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Absolute Best CD Players Out There Under $12k ?

Ok, I'm looking to upgrade my CD Player. It's the last part of my uber-headphone system and I'm hoping to get the best player possible for under $12k used. I know that affords me alot of options, and I imagine I'll do some travelling and testing before I buy, but I wanted some opinions first. Right now, these are the main ones I'm considering:

*Reimyo CDP-777
*Linn Sondek CD12
*Naim CDS3/XPS2
*Wadia 270/27
*Wadia 861se w/Statement mod from GNSC
*Meridian 808
*EMM Labs Meitner CDSD/Dac6
*Esoteric DV-50 with full mods from Reference Audio Mods
*Classe Omega SACD

I'm not so much into characteristics - the overall performance is more important for me. But I do need a player with great bass (both in extension, detail, and volume) as my headphones are a bit bass shy. Any reviews/comparisons would be much appreciated.
no1willfan
robm321
932 posts
 
Calanctus,

You do realize there is almost no limit to how pricy these get, and pretty much every other audio component. As long as there are people that want to drop large sums of money, there will be companies that will make the product whether it's worth it or not.
jfz
570 posts
 
Busypk: on the same isolation platforms, in the same room, same equipment, etc., including break-in and/or warm-up time? (and with the most recent 3910 mods) If the answer is "yes", I would love to hear specifics about what you heard. That would be very helpful. Thanks
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Guidocorona, at CES the five box Teac did sound very good and outperformed the lesser versions. Of course, I will never try it in my system. Given the performance of the Exemplar 5910 on the Halcyonics base, it would be an interesting question whether it would be better to buy the Exemplar and Halcyonic or go all out for the Teac. I suspect it would be the Exemplar/Halcyonic. All I know is that the Halcyonic will go under whatever digital I have, including the VRS were I to go that way.
guidocorona
4,114 posts
 
Hmmm, Norm, yet think of the savings. . . the D-01 DACs are only half chassis boxes. This means that you will require only 4 Halcyonics for your front end instead of 5. So the front end would cost only 56K + 28K for the platforms = 84K. Oh Wow, that's a full 7.5K savings!
Oh never mind, I forgot to take into account PCs and digital ICs.
judy426
228 posts
 
$8000 platforms with a $3000 player. Hmmmmm, I'll bet you guys mount $5000 racing tires on your Yugos too. Same rationale.
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