List of High-End Digital Source Owners on Head-Fi

i think this is a useful and interesting thread, so i will try to update it from time to time. if the source is not already listed, please post its retail price. also, this list is for currently owned sources, not prior ones or contemplated purchases.

thanks,

vcoheda

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I started out posting this list in a thread on the Amps forum but thought I would start an official continually-updated list here. I thought it might be helpful for everyone to see how prevalent the high-end is on Head-Fi.

All sources in this list are digital only and carry a retail price of $2K (US) minimum (or technically, $1,995 minimum for the $2K approximation):

$44,000 - Esoteric P-03/D-03/G-0Rb - Champ04
$32,000 - Naim CD555/555PS - vpivinylspinner
$30,000 - APL NWO 3.0-GO (2) - blubliss, neilvg
$28,000 - Esoteric P-03/D-03 (2) - randerson3024, Sleestack
$23,500 - EMM Labs CDSD/DCC2 SE (3) - boilingfrog, foo_me, Voltron, neilvg
$22,000 - Accuphase DP-700 - howiebrou
$21,900 - EMM Labs CDSD/6e (2) - bozebuttons, immtbiker
$20,000 - Linn Sondek CD12 - Nik
$20,000 - MSB Platinum III player w/ signature DAC and 32x digital filter - paulllaser
$20,000 - Stax DAC-X1T - larryminator
$19,000 - Esoteric P-05/D-05/G-03X - Elephas
$16,900 - EMM Labs CDSD/DCC2 (4) - didwlgh (3), vpivinylspinner
$15,495 - Reimyo CDP-777 - 909
$14,995 - Nagra CDC - TheAttorney
$14,850 - Meridian 808i.2 - Audio Addict
$13,495 - Nagra CDP (2) - blem, fkclo
$13,500 - EMM Labs DCC2 SE - 2deadeyes
$13,500 - Simaudio Moon Andromeda - 883dave
$13,000 - Esoteric UX-1 - Icarium
$12,995 - Meridian 808.2 - BigEat
$11,495 - Mark Levinson No.37 and No.360S - ast
$10,000 - EMM Labs DCC2 - audiosceptic
$9,995 - EMM Labs CDSA SE - fkclo
$9,950 - Wadia 581i SE - Mister Crash
$9,580 - Audio Aero Capitole SE - barmar46, ckoffend
$9,500 - Modwright/Kern/Sony 777ES - purk
$9,190 - RAM/Esoteric DV-50 - 88sound
$8,995 - Audio Research CD7 - 4N6
$8,638 - dCS 954 - dvse
$8,500 - Abbingdon Music Research CD-77 - Rob N
$8,500 - BAT VK-D5SE 24-bit w/ SuperPak PS - Know Talent
$8,200 - Esoteric X03 SE - BigEat, ckoffend
$8,000 - Cary 306 Professional - 4N6
$8,000 - Accuphase DP-77 - agile_one
$7,580 - Shanling T300 w/ Ginko Audio custom dust cover & Cloud 10 vibration platform - Wmcmanus
$7,500 - Wavelength Crimson DAC - Fing
$7,500 - Accuphase DP-500 - Elephas
$7,500 - Cary 306 SACD V3 - Ricey20
$7,500 - Marantz SA-1 (2) - dan_can, piotr z
$7,200 - Marantz CD12 (2) - Kees, Rob N
$7,000 - Accustic Arts DAC1 Mk4 - AC1
$7,000 - Linn Akurate CD - earwicker7
$6,999 - Marantz SA7S1 modded - markl
$6,999 - Marantz SA7S1 - mikeymad
$6,950 - Wadia 581 - James3Toe
$6,500 - RAM/Sony SCD-1 - purk
$6,500 - Shanling CDT-100 modded by Shanling, North Audio, & Parts Connexion - Zanth
$6,000 - Cary 306 SACD - purk
$6,000 - Esoteric DV-60 - randerson3024
$6,000 - Esoteric DV-50S - Afrikane
$6,000 - McIntosh MS750 - BigEat
$6,000 - Townshend 565 - CanMan
$5,800 - Marantz CD-7 - dan_can
$5,500 - Esoteric DV-50 - immtbiker
$5,500 - Kern/Sony XA777ES - Lornecherry
$5,500 - Lindemann CD1-SE - Anders
$5,495 - Audio Research CD3 MKII (2) - cyx, pompon
$5,365 - Lector Audio CDP 7T - gjkphd
$5,195 - Reimyo DAP-777 (2) - Anders, shaizada
$5,000 - bel canto CD-2 (2) - CD44hi, fkclo
$5,000 - Densen B400XS - Gazza
$5,000 - Musical Fidelity TriVista SACD - Rob N
$5,000 - Pass Labs D1 - feckn_eejit
$4,995 - APL/Denon 3910 - spritzer
$4,995 - Linn Unidisk SC - audiosceptic
$4,950 - Weiss Minerva - WindowsX
$4,750 - Plinius CD-101 (2) - Asr, rlaxowjd155
$4,640 - Ontech Monster Dual Mono DAC - nor_spoon
$4,600 - Esoteric SA-60 (3) - Afrikane, BigEat, vpivinylspinner
$4,200 - Audia Flight CD Two - GarryH
$4,000 - Cary CD-303/300 - vpivinylspinner
$4,000 - Modwright/Denon 3910 (Universal Truth mod) - robm321
$4,000 - Marantz DV9500 Ram Modded - p_o
$3,995 - Meridian G08 (6) - bhd812, euclid, immtbiker, Old Pa, vcoheda, vpivinylspinner
$3,950 - Exemplar/Denon 2900 (3) - boomana, guzziguy, purk
$3,950 - RAM/Shanling SCD-300 - tom hankins
$3,900 - Audio-Technica ATH-DHA3000 w/ Black Gates - purk
$3,850 - APL/Philips SACD 1000 - tkam
$3,770 - Meridian 500 transport + Benchmark DAC1 Pre - pcf
$3,750 - Linn Karik III - steviebee
$3,600 - Audio-Technica ATH-DHA3000 - iamoneagain
$3,600 - Modwright/SD Transporter (2) - audiosceptic, cAsE sEnSiTiVe
$3,500 - Cary CD301 - Jon L
$3,500 - Denon DVD-A11 - piotr z
$3,500 - Naim CD5 w/ Flatcap 2 - FrostyMMB
$3,500 - Resolution Audio Opus 21 (2) - Absorbine_Sr, akwok
$3,500 - Wavelength Audio Cosecant (2) - jp11801, Telynau
$3,499 - Marantz SA11S1 (5) - Ferrari, Gu Sensei, gz76, Tbln, tom hankins
$3,495 - Linn Ikemi - KurtW
$3,495 - McCormack UDP-1 - JaZZ
$3,495 - Meridian 508.24 - johnsonad, recstar24, vberch
$3,495 - Sonic Frontiers SFCD-1 - jrgeoffrion
$3,200 - APL/SD Transporter - shokunin
$3,040 - Chord DAC64 - Lornecherry
$3,000 - Arcam Delta 250/Black Box 500 - memepool
$3,000 - Sony CDP-XA7ES - purk
$2,995 - Ayre CX-7 - ingwe
$2,900 - Naim CD3.5 w/ Flat-Cap power supply - screwdriver
$2,875 - Meridian G07 - jeffreyj900
$2,795 - Canary Audio CD-100 - Jacques
$2,695 - Shanling SCD-T200 - Wmcmanus
$2,500 - Empirical/Benchmark DAC1 (Turbomod, Option 1) - didwlgh
$2,500 - Northstar M192 (2) - Dan Millheim, J-Pak
$2,499 - Arcam FMJ CD23 - Old Pa
$2,499 - Arcam FMJ CD33 - wareagle69
$2,495 - bel canto DAC3 (5) - BigEat, DouglasQuaid, Dreadhead, fkclo, SR-71Panorama, steaxauce
$2,400 - Consonance Turandot - Akathriel
$2,400 - Jungson CDT2 - nc8000
$2,395 - Audio Aero Prima - Wmcmanus
$2,250 - Electrocompaniet ECD1 (2) - CarbonTi, krmathis
$2,049 - Linn Classik (2) - Dreadhead, piotr z
$2,000 - Denon DVD-5900 modded - Listen2this1
$2,000 - Hertsens Signature DAC - n_maher
$2,000 - Studer A727 - memepool
$1,999 - Arcam FMJ CD36 - HiWire
$1,999 - SACDMods 9100ES - sacd_lover
$1,999 - Shanling SCD-T100 - Wmcmanus
$1,999 - Slim Devices Transporter (3) - 2deadeyes, chesebert, xand1x
$1,998 - Original Leonardo 9.3 - GarryH
$1,995 - Opera Audio Consonance CD2.2 Linear - GarryH

unknown - Meridian 506.16 - derekbmn

I took the $3.5K price as a baseline from someone else. Why, do you think sound is a good basis? Sound is subjective, price is not. But of course price points can be argued, so what price would you say is a reasonable split? There are lots of people who would probably claim that high-end doesn't start until $5K (or above) so I think $3.5K is reasonable, for now at least. IMO, high-end starts at around $2K, since there's a lot of <$2K gear that parades itself as high-end but really isn't, and $2K is being pretty generous...