I auditioned both cdp before buying the Cary 306/200. While the Audio Research is an excellent player it lacked HDCD and the ability to upsample. I have a large cd collection, many purchased in the early days of cd and the upsampling does improve many of these older cds as well as many current cds. The Cary can also be used as a DAC with digital inputs, I use it with my DAT player with excellent results.
