Best CD player money can buy ? MBL, Nagra, Naim?

I have owned over 60, and I am done....APL NWO 2.5T

711smilin, lots of luck. I use to say this, but now know that this is lifetime affliction.

Newly; just curious.....is there something about the EMM Labs SE gear that causes you to want something different? i understand the desire to have the best and am not being critical.

i've owned the CDSD SE and DAC6 SE for the last year or so and i have been very happy. i have found that every system tweak brings more and more detail and musical energy from the SE gear. particularly recently a few power grid tweaks really dramatized the advantage of SACD over redbook.

i have not heard every new piece of gear out there but my guess is that at the level of difference we are speaking here most of the stuff already mentioned above would be choosen based on system and taste context. digital gear with tubed outputs is typically at a disadvantage in an already neutral and natural system. ss output gear is many times at a disadvantage in a 'challenged' rooms and setups. then one's musical reference comes into the picture.

there are many excellent digital players......at least get some SACD's and enjoy what they bring before you go redbook only.

just my 2 cents.

I was going to suggest the same thing as I think Mikelavigne suggested. If you buy a selection of SACDs of music you enjoy, you might find that it is worthwhile keeping the emmlabs. My opinion is that at this level of digital playback, it is the other changes one makes in the system which matter more.

i would like to add for clarity; my EMM Labs SE redbook performance is better than any other i have heard.....in my system, to my tastes, to my ears. i have not heard everything out there and at the top of the heap the differences are not large.

YMMV.