Sim Moon cd player Opninons

I see Sutts beat me to the punch - re: his Capitole.

:>)

Grange,

I own an Eclipse, so I'm gonna say Sim. ...Others to look at:
I'll second Natalie's recommendation Audio Aero Capitole - Stutts might have a few words on this CDP for you too. …And if budget is flexible there's also the Accuphase DP75V. All are good choices. $. I don't know if I'd put the Electrocompaniet in the same grouping, but this is a personal preference issue.

It's really hard to beat the Sim's performance& build/$ ratio. With regard to folks suggesting that the Sim lacks bass… they obviously have other gremlins at play in their system(s) and blamed them on the Sim. Even the best $ no object CDP will sound poor if not properly isolated or if mated to poorly matched ancillary components & wires.

As for Sony...well I haven't heard a Sony that would compare - except SACD, and it wasn't as close as you might think.

Cheers,
Mike

Whatjd....Sorry I meant the XA999ES. Its reviewed in the Jan and Feb Stereophile. Better then the 555/333 which got A ratings in the Oct 01 Stereophile.

OK you snobes. I have auditioned the Linns, Muse, Meridian 588, and the Sim. The Sony is better, not just SACD but straight red book. I had the same reaction. Since the SCD-1 came out Sony have come out with a series of players that are competitive with the hi end stuff. I listened to the $3500 Linn which was running warm and broken in in a Listen Up show room. System included a Levinson pre and mono blocks and B&W 803s. I asked to hear the Sony. Since I had purchased stuff from the sales person before he humored me and went into the store room and pulled out a boxed XA777ES. He plugged it in cold and my wife who is a musician and has listened to systems with me for many years said after 5 minutes...wow It blew the doors off the Linn.
Read the Sim Moon and XA777ES reviews in Sterophile. Clearly the Sony wins. Their opinion and to a lesser degree mine.