Thanks so much, everyone.  I agree with you regarding AI.

AI has helped me solve a lot of problems.  However, I always follow up with more questions and ask for references or "proof."  I have had a couple instances where I have proven it wrong yet it insists it is correct.  Or different AI engines give different answers.

I will try to contact Brandonhifi to see if he has any further thoughts and if he has played files on his W20SE for comparison.

I asked AI why it thought the Jay's would be more musical and this was one explanation.  I am trying to make sense of it.

Why the CDT3’s timing feels “musical”

Because the timing is shaped by:

• the disc’s rotation

• the servo’s micro‑adjustments

• the mechanism’s inertia

• the power supply’s stability

• the clock’s phase noise

• the physical behavior of the CD‑Pro2 LF

This creates a natural, continuous timing flow that your ear interprets as:

• musicality

• drive

• presence

• emotional engagement

A file player cannot replicate this because it has no mechanical timing source.

One other thing.  While the commercial CDs and the Verbatim CD-Rs are relatively quiet in comparison to the Maxell, I can still hear them spinning in quiet spots so the extreme quiet of the N30SA would be welcome.

I don't usually think much about AI but in this case it's pretty much spot on. However my suggestion would be to buy a N20 instead. I've compared the N20 and N30 extensively and there's hardly any difference.

Buy an A100 to be the library for the N20, this combo really is fantastic but you can also get a really great 19v power supply for the A100. I use Zayin Audio. The A100 is also a cd ripper. 

I’m listening to a CD as I write this, so I understand your question.  At one point, I had several thousand CD’s.  I bought a NAS and started ripping them.  Seeing as the NAS was new and I had all sorts of space, I ripped everything to .wav. Then one day I ripped a few disks to high quality .flac as a trial.  I can’t for the life of me hear a difference.  It was explained to me that before it can be played the file has to be returned to a .wav.  Back in the day, servers (computers) had less power and memory, so there could be issues, but that’s pretty much history.  Anyway a few years ago I lost my professional Sony CD player and I bought an Oppo. Good stuff, but there was definitely a different sound. I then bought an Audiolab 6000CDT and I was very pleased with the sound. If you are listening to your CD’s, get the Jay’s.  If you are going to rip your disks, get the N30SA. I’m still using the 6000CDT for CD’s and I’m happy with the N200 as my streamer 

Jays is highly rated.enjoy the hunt