When is digital going to get the soul of music?

Stock, the SA-14 is thin and hard sounding, with a sucked out mid-range and without much frequency extension in the bottom end. (To my ears, in my system) Not overly dynamic, either.

Wow. That's not at all what I recall aboout the stock SA-14, which I found warm and full-bodied, but lacking in detail and extension.

I wonder if musicality blended with accuracy is a trademark of Sony DVD players in general, since I have noticed the same qualities in Modwright Sony 999ES and Sony 9000ES players.

FWIW:
The Dodson 217 Mark 2 D DAC that I own is fantastic. The new (and improved) Dodson 218 flagship, which is pricey, is claimed by Ralph Dodson to have essentially duplicated the analog experience, if I'm paraphrasing him correctly. I obviously can't say for sure, but in talking to him on the phone, his laconic, no nonsense conversation style would suggest that he's not at all the type of guy who's prone to hyperbole. Pretty terse, matter of fact, and believable.

Try 192/96 DAC - the sound becomes smoother, so you can play louder without hurting your ears, so more emotion comes through.

There are computer programs that will convert it to higher specs as well. If you re-burn your red book CDs on a good cdr like taiyo yuden, the sound becomes better.

EAC program is best for ripping the data into the computer.

Feurio program is best for burning.

Both can be downloaded for free - just google it.

C5150, I've just joined your ranks, for reasons other than your own. I'm confused from my audition of Aplhifi's sytem. Fortunately, he sells what I heard. First though, I have to understand it. It almost seemed like it didn't matter what was being played. It affected me so much, that it was a letdown to even think about playing my system. My sytem still has something that causes the songs to play in my head when I'm away from it, but the way it affects me after listening to it is not comparable to Aplhifi's. Now, I don't want to add to your confusion, but maybe he's on to something. I'm trying to investigate it.

I've decided to buy Alphifi's Denon 3910, and I don't own any cd's.