As far as somebody wouldn't afford to buy its bigger brothers, the 507 proved a star performer through the years. I compared it to many players at the time I was building my system, and it proved a really great match to my McIntosh MA 6500 integrated. It's neutral character, great analysis and faithful reproduction will match and upgrade any system from serious hi-fi to mid hi-end. You need go no futher. For 1.500 euros it proved to face directly players of double price, at least. Who thinks that buiding a good system with an integrated and very decent speakers, would hear more with a more expensive player -especially with a separate DAC- will bw dissapointed... Players don't really make the difference. Speakers and amps do. The 507 is -IMHO- an excellent reproducer of all recordings. By puting at its place an Audio Research ref 7 that a friend kindly brought home for cross comparison, we herad very very small differences in terms of analysis, spatial info and nuances. By also comparing directly with a Yamaha CDR1500 through instant A-B switching of the same cd playing in both players, we found the 507 slightly overexceeding the 1500 in the same areas. To see my system, go to McIntosh MA 6500 reviews. All over, a fine, rigidly built and absolutely credible player through the years. And I wouldn't consider the lack of SACD reproduction as a downside. no matter what the specialists cry out there. Don't forget that the king of sounds was, is and will always be the vinyl, if we're talking about analog...