If you like the house sound of the Linn, the Ikemi seems a natural choice.
I listened to quite a few 1 box players before I bought my Cary 303. I suggest you consider the 303 (or better yet, the Cary 306/200 - call Upscale Audio for price quote - you might be surprised), Meridian 508.24, Electrocompaniet EMC1 MkII, Metronome, and of course, the Ikemi. Slightly different flavors, all very musical involving players that will improve upon your Genki. One box digital can be amazingly good for the $$ these days.
SACD can sound quite wonderful. However, I've listened to the Sonys and NONE of them can touch the above players for regular Redbook CD playback IMO. NO way.
Front end is critical - you can't really improve the original input on down the audio chain. Change it, yes. Improve it, no.
Good luck.
I listened to quite a few 1 box players before I bought my Cary 303. I suggest you consider the 303 (or better yet, the Cary 306/200 - call Upscale Audio for price quote - you might be surprised), Meridian 508.24, Electrocompaniet EMC1 MkII, Metronome, and of course, the Ikemi. Slightly different flavors, all very musical involving players that will improve upon your Genki. One box digital can be amazingly good for the $$ these days.
SACD can sound quite wonderful. However, I've listened to the Sonys and NONE of them can touch the above players for regular Redbook CD playback IMO. NO way.
Front end is critical - you can't really improve the original input on down the audio chain. Change it, yes. Improve it, no.
Good luck.