The system I'm currently using is a Boulder 1060 amp being fed by an Aesthetix Janus. I had a Wadia 861(GNSC Statement) that I loved but ultimately had a transport failure and I wasn't able to find someone to repair it. I moved on to and Esoteric UX-03SE but it too developed a transport problem. Tough getting these units repaired. I ran all my players through balanced cables and my amp and preamp are connected with balanced cables. The Marantz unit only offers single ended inputs while the Luxman offers both. I don't have any SACD's but might consider buying a few but I have a ton of cd's. I don't presently do anything other than play vinyl and cd's at this point but I think down the road I may look into hi-rez streaming through a server but it's not an immediate concern. Thanks for your input and you brought up a number of good points. It's probably a toss up at their relative pricepoints. I believe I'd have to spend significantly more(which I really don't want to do) to get everything in a one-box player. I do like balanced connections and it would be easier because my balanced cables are of higher quality than my single-ended ones. I'm looking for well built, good sounding player that I can get repaired if or when it has a problem. Both have good manufacturer's warranties but Marantz's is five years vs Luxman's three years.
Luxman D-03x or Marantz KI Ruby
Looking to replace my older wounded Esoteric cd player with something new(er). I've read quite a bit on both the Luxman D-03x and the Marantz KI Ruby. I live in a small town hundreds of miles from any substantial dealer of either product and was curious whether others have had a chance to compare these two in person and why they chose one over the other. Or, if they were able to audition these two but ultimately chose another player instead of either of these