Muse makes DVD players, which are very good for playback of redbook CD's. My Muse Model 9 Signature sounds as good as the CD-only players I have heard, plus you get the benefits of DVD video and DVD-Audio playback. Tonal quality and soundstaging are very good, bass and dynamics are strong, mids are textured and realistic, and the highs are grainless. Although the initial price of these units is not cheap, they hold good resale value, and you gain an added benefit that Kevin Halverson of Muse offers an upgrade path to current models for virtually all Muse products. The current Model 10 plays CD, CDR, DVD, DVD-A, and SACD (but unfortunately only the std CD layer). The build quality is excellent and they offer balanced and single-ended operation. I am also very pleased with their preamp. At this point, the only other CD players I would consider (outside of upgrading my 9 sig to a 10) would be the Cary 306-200 or a transport with the new Meitner DAC. I will more likely hang out and see if Meitner comes out with a player, or whether Kevin can upgrade the 10 to play SACD. Sorry, but I cannot make a direct comparison with Audio Note, as I have not heard their dac's or players.
