I have a Cary 303/300 and I like it but I don't know if I would recommend it unconditionally. Like you I don't have the opportunity to listen to a lot of gear.
The Cary gives you the option of tube or ss output and a number of upsample rates. If you like to fool with your gear you can try different settings and see which you like best on different cds. If you don't like to fool with your gear you may be paying for options you won't use.
I use the tube output and I would say that it's a nice musical player, not harsh or forward but probably not the highest resolving either.
One thing I don't like is the drawer mechanism. It uses a computer cd-rom drive and it kind of shudders open and closed. It is not a smooth, solid mechanism.
The Cary gives you the option of tube or ss output and a number of upsample rates. If you like to fool with your gear you can try different settings and see which you like best on different cds. If you don't like to fool with your gear you may be paying for options you won't use.
I use the tube output and I would say that it's a nice musical player, not harsh or forward but probably not the highest resolving either.
One thing I don't like is the drawer mechanism. It uses a computer cd-rom drive and it kind of shudders open and closed. It is not a smooth, solid mechanism.