Hi,
Having owned the Pioneer PD-93 myself I can tell you that it will still hold its own against the typical $1500 recommendations. The Pioneer is probably the best 20 bit cd player ever developed by a Japanese manufacturer. When I sold mine, the new owner was absolutely floored by how great it sounded (not to mention its unbelievable build quality). He had owned a couple of the typical sub $1500 recommended cd players, and told me that the Pioneer was much better.
In order to trounce the Pioneer sonically, you may need to consider a 24 bit dac and transport. My thoughts are why not give the Awia/MSB Stan Warren modified combo a try? I've heard it displace many digital rigs that cost over $5000 , yet it is less than $1100 complete. Just last week we compared it to three high end DVD-A and one SACD player that all cost over $3000, yet it was no contest. The Awia/MSB combo won hands down again. I have yet to hear anything under $2500 that even compares to this combo.
Having owned the Pioneer PD-93 myself I can tell you that it will still hold its own against the typical $1500 recommendations. The Pioneer is probably the best 20 bit cd player ever developed by a Japanese manufacturer. When I sold mine, the new owner was absolutely floored by how great it sounded (not to mention its unbelievable build quality). He had owned a couple of the typical sub $1500 recommended cd players, and told me that the Pioneer was much better.
In order to trounce the Pioneer sonically, you may need to consider a 24 bit dac and transport. My thoughts are why not give the Awia/MSB Stan Warren modified combo a try? I've heard it displace many digital rigs that cost over $5000 , yet it is less than $1100 complete. Just last week we compared it to three high end DVD-A and one SACD player that all cost over $3000, yet it was no contest. The Awia/MSB combo won hands down again. I have yet to hear anything under $2500 that even compares to this combo.