thinking of getting a taste of high end(cd player)

Densen make great CD players from semi-affordable to expensive.

All of them are great; detailed, amazing bass and excellent PRaT (pace, rhythm and timing)

I'd also look at Arcam, Denon and Plinius.

You being in Hong Kong, there are so many opportunities to try high end audio. Consider yourself lucky!

I wonder if you could get an Esoteric SA-60 for that money? Go to Shun Woo Audio in Central and try it out. If you like it, buy one second hand. My dad has purchased a fair amount of stuff from them and the service has been pretty good so far. If you call in advance, they can have pretty much any Esoteric gear set up for you in advance. Shun Woo also sell Chord Electronics, YBA, Audio Refinement, etc... Give 'em a try.

Another great dealer to go to is Radar Audio. They sell Cambridge Audio, dCS, Naim, etc... I would try the Cambridge Audio first, then ask to compare that with a much higher end player, eg Naim CDS3, dCS Puccini. If you can appreciate the difference, then maybe it is worth going higher end after all Likewise, it would be best to call in advance, or pop in to their dealers to see what they have. They are very friendly.

HK must be a great place to shop. I heard that things are generally cheaper than Singapore.

How is the availability of Marantz players? If you can pick up the SA-7S1 for anything close to your budget, grab it!! I've not heard the next model down the chain - the SA-11S2 - but I've heard the 8001, and if it's an improvement on that, it's a nice pick-up.

Don't. It's like a drug (And you'll never get enough)

Mong Kok won't necessarily be cheaper, but it doesn't hurt to ask them for price quotes. In my experience, the audio dealers in Mong Kok don't have terribly good listening rooms. On the other hand, both Shun Woo and the B&W/Classe dealer in Central have pretty well furnished listening rooms.

Two other dealers that I just remembered are Excel Hifi and Jadis. The Jadis dealer (iirc in Ocean Terminal, TST) in Hong Kong sells not only Jadis, but also a lot of other gear, predominantly high end stuff like MBL. Excel Hifi (Meridian, Halcro, Mark Levinson, Magnepan, etc) has two showrooms, one of which can be found in Ocean Terminal, TST and also in Grancastle Commercial Centre in Mong Kok.

You should pay a visit to Grancastle Commercial Centre (添置商業中心) in Mong Kok. It's a narrow, multi-story building packed full of different hifi dealers. The listening environment is not the best, but it'll give you a flavour of what to expect. Excel Hifi has two showrooms there (on two different floors).

I only recommend Excel Hifi, Jadis, Shun Woo Audio, Radar Audio and the B&W/Classe dealer based on good personal experience. The guys at Excel Hifi were particular friendly and accomodating.

Naim CDX2 is an excellent cd player, but it might be more like £2500, which is nearly $5000

x2

I had the pleasure of hearing this unit demoed recently and it was fabulous. I'm currently saving for one.

Marantz SA-12 might be a good choice or Esoteric for jus a little more savings. SA-60 maybe.

I’ve had the 840c for a week now and I simply can’t imagine anything better

I'm at a crossroads of sorts.

My Onkyo 1000 has served me faithfully for several years now but I'm starting to see some early signs of some age issues that suggest to me that it probably has more days behind it then ahead of it.

Last May I had purchased an Apogee Mini DAC to inject what I felt was some much needed natural warmth into my sound system and to take out what I viewed as an almost brittle harshness. It worked perfectly.

So if something happens I can always sell that Mini-DAC or what have you but right now I'm considering two options:

1.) The Cambridge 840c

Which I know is only a CD player

or saving up and possibly pulling in some favors and going for something like:

2.) The Esoteric SA-60

^^ This would be way out there for me but there's a slim chance an old acquaintance of mine might be able to help me out on that.

I have a few SACDs and DVD-As and I love the idea of an audio only universal player but when I see something like that, my first instinct has the "law of diminshing returns" alarms going off.

Has anyone compared these two players against each other and is the SA-60 something that's really worth it or should I wait and when the time comes just get another universal player around $1000 or so and call it a day.

I'd view something like an SA-60 as an investment and something I'd keep for years until it literally dies in my face. That's typically how I work with electronics, in general.

So I'm just starting to feel the territory out a little bit. All thoughts and input appreciated.

I have a 740c and my dad the X-03SE. Using the same headphone (HE60) and amplifier (SRM-006t), I really prefer the X-03SE. It's an obvious upgrade.

That thing lists for about $7600. It had better be.

The SA-60 lists for around 5 grand give or take.

From what I understand, the 840c is a nice jump over the very solid 740c because of that proprietary DAC and upsampling it does and a few other tricks.

That being said, I'm sure the $7600 player would still win out even against the 840c if I had to place any bets.