What are the best CD Player around $3500?

Ops...I was refering to the Ayre Cx-7e.

And compared to what other players?

711smilin: I have a 9000 BonMod on order. I'll be in your neck of the woods Oct 6 visiting Bon and 1Markr. Hope to visit with you as well.

I tried out a number of players but was not happy with any of them until I brought home the Meridian G08. I didn't try out much else in the 4k range though, mostly stuff in the 2.5-3.5k range (USD). When I heard how clean and how cohesive all the elements in the music sounded (the soundstage was rock hard stable), as well as how easy it was to hear all the musical elements separately, it was a no brainer. I had to throw down the extra money. It matches well with the transparency of my Brystons (SP1.7 in analog bypass mode).

It plays all the ranges, high through low with equal attention, so if your speakers don't carry the whole range, bass, mid and treble well it would be best to bring it home as a loaner and test it on your system first.

My system: Bryston 9B SST, Bryston SP1.7, Meridian G08, Denon DVD-5910, B&W 7 series 5.1 speaker setup (2 x 703, 2 x 705, HTM7, ASW 750).

Hmmm an interesting question. Having owned McIntosh equipment and a current owner of JM Labs speakers (Mini Utopias) I would suspect that your sound is touch lean. I'm a big fan of the Cary line. I had the 303-100 and it was an excellent player in my system. I have heard the older Meridian players but have not heard the Ayre equipment. I'm going the Sony 999ES / Modwright route for my next upgrade.