Quote Originally Posted by blackraven
Its all a matter of personal taste. I've heard better sounding CDP's but they were all over $4K. The best that I've heard was a $10K Ayre CDP. But if you like a more neutral transparent sound with exellent treble and tight bass then its a great player. I've read some negative user reviews on the 840 because that type of sound did not appeal to them. Some people feel it is a little thin on the midrange, but that has to do with the transparency of the CDP.

I'll give another update at 150hrs.
I almost bought the player last year and since I like to do a lot of research before settling down to review the units that
on paper at least seem the top contenders, I was dissuaded from a number of negative reviews. There are several reviews out there that refer to the player as underwhelming and not very exciting. This sounds to be the opposite of what you're describing. Maybe this is that recessed midrange, that you refer to?

You also mentioned that you were going straight into your amp with it. I didn't think the player had volume-controlled outputs. If so, these would attenuate the sound, so is there an audible degradation at lower volumes?

Finally, what about using a lower-priced unit as a transport and adding a much higher quality DAC? I know that may push the price up, but in that case I would probably purchase the DAC second hand. Had you considered an external DAC as an option?

I'm not trying to be contrarian, here, but I'm starting to feel like I really should have bought the player when I had the chance. Needless to say, I'm very interested in your experience with this player. Keep us posted.