Cary 303/300 or Musical Fidelity A5 with Mac gear?

Was told today by my local Cary dealer that the Rep. had sent back the demo unit and the 303/300 is going to be discontinued. Shocked him too. He wanted me to try a Primare cd pleayer.

MCD 500---it gives you a digital input. That will be very useful if you ever want to input an ipod or Wadia dock or the like. I thought I would never use the one on my Simaudio Supernova...I now use it quite often--it is a plus to have one and the new Mac CD player has one. FWIW.

Pepe

Hawkeye, I happen to have both the A5 and 303/300 right now, and honestly, I would be happy with either player.

The Cary has the edge in resolution and extension; the A5 provides a bit more cohesive musical picture (if you have any idea of what that might mean!). Both are well built, nice pieces.

If you're obsessive compulsive, know that the Cary has enough flexibility to drive you crazy. Both tube and SS outputs and 5 levels of upsampling that work with both sides. I am a tube guy and am surprised that so far I like the SS side best (hate to admit that!), though I have a few pairs of NOS tubes coming so we'll see how those go. The A5 has no options, which can be a plus.

Good luck.
Bob

I am all over the place with this decision. Tonight I was wondering if a good DAC would do the trick? Something like the Benchmark or the PS Audio. Just a thought.

Still playing with the MAC MCD-201. Has good soundstaging and depth and is very smooth. But it doesn't seem to have the speed and detail of the Arcam. Would love the get the Cary in my system just to see how well it works with the rest of the gear. Also have always been into the Musical Fidelity gear. Have there tube buffer and its great. The search is on.

Thanks guys!

David

I love my Cary 303/300. I'm not familiar with the A5, but have been disappointed with other Musical Fidelity gear.