What is the best redbook CD player for 6K to 8K?

All I know is that my Marantz SA12 and Denon 2900 after upgrades plays equal to or better in some regards than the UX-1. The Upgraded Theta Compli and the APL 3910 with the AKM DAC's and tube output stage would be in a completely different league. Only a retailer would be making claims that a stock unit could compare. Get above 20k which would be mostly separates and those stock players would give these a run for there money. Basically at this point it would be down to tastes. One person who has the Theta also owned the UX-1 with the G-25u. He sold those because the Theta was better. Maybe he will chime in someday. The modded units really give you more of everything! Definitely the open 3d image.

I find it amusing that modded units are always compared to the Esoteric UX-1, whose audio implementation is intentionally almost an afterthought, rather than with the X-01 Limited, which is optimized for Audio only. I do admit that my only exposure to modded unit is limited to A heavily reingineered APL 1000, whose Redbook and SACD performance was painfully disappointing when compared to a not even completely broken in Esoteric X-01 original version. I suppose/hope modded players have evolved since then. Yet, the owner of that APL 1000 has sold the APL very quickly and purchased the X-01. So did I, after listening to his modified 1000. . . . to state it bluntly there was no contest.

APL 1000 has sold the APL very quickly and purchased the X-01. So did I, after listening to his modified 1000. . . . to state it bluntly there was no contest.
Guidocorona (Threads | Answers)

That's an apples to oranges comparison, and the APL Philips SACD1000 was so many iterations ago, that using it as a barometer of a modified player is unfair. It's like requiring a single A baseball team to be competitive with a major league baseball team (KC Royals excepted).

Guido, you seem to have a Jones for APL. I encourage you to let it go. You do your homework like few others on Audiogon, and it's not like you to comment on gear you haven't heard.

Please listen to an APL Denon 3910, or an APL NWO-1, and then make your comparisons with the thoroughness and fairness you've displayed in the past.

Yes I believe modded players have evolved especially in the last year. Now you can start comparing apples to apples. Even reviewers get there equipment modified. Esoteric, Reimyo, and Linn gear just to name a few. You will see more and more of these modded players at CES and the like for years to come.

Alex, thank you for your involvement in this thread!

A couple of questions, if you would be so kind... The laser pickup and the transport are the parts likely to fail. What, in your estimation, is a reasonable life expectancy for these parts in 95%+ of the cases? 1 year? 2 years? 3 years? 5 years? 10 years? Or, more?

And, many audiophiles see a player as shot when they insert a disk, but nothing happens. Is this simply the laser pickup? If so, and it's easily repairable, for some of us who are willing to try to do it ourselves if the day ever arose where we saw this failure, is it a relatively inexpensive part?

Thank you for all of your insight!
Joe