I've owned the Muse 8/296 for 4 months now and not that I've heard them all, but while shopping for the player and then later for speakers I did not hear anything better with CDs not to mention 24/96 discs or DVD video which are also great. The DVD capability is a bonus since in my opinion the combo plays CDs incredibly well and is at least right up there with the best that cost considerably more. Slaving the transport to the master clock seems to be an effective solution to the jitter issue. Somewhat as an aside, I've also heard people say DVD transports are not optimized for CD playback and "won't sound as good". Not so in this case in my experience. As it is now and also being upgrade-able, my need for investment protection is also satisfied. Definitely a "must listen to" setup if you are in the market.
Best CD player now made.
I am interested in getting the best CD player out there as one of my digital sources. I have a few candidates but I wanted some other opinions. Any suggestions on the Sony's top player or Mark Levinson, or even the BAT tubed affair. I realise the Transport and the DAC might be superior but I wanted to stay below 5 digits. Thanks,