I've owned 7 or 8 CD players over the years, including Meridian and Wadia, and this player, to me, is the most "musical" I've had in my system. It simply sounds great, and for those that like vinyl, I think there's no "digital" sound to it at all, very smooth and analog sounding to me. The one drawback for me is that it only has one set of analog outputs (it also has Toslink and RCA digital connectors), but that's a minor failing. And, it's very well built with a nice remote control.