CD players are easy to sync using the cue function buttons <- ->. However, with two cd players set for AB repeat, even that is not necessary. With both players set to A-B repeat the same passage, all you have to do is reset one to the beginning of the AB segment <<-- while the other is playing. It is not a fair test if the two players aren't playing the same passage IMO.

I don't know what this would prove. That one player sounds different from the other is about all you would likely discern. That one player sounded better but not necessarily more accurate playing one disc on one sound system. I still don't understand what conclusions you would come to.

Early players had gross distortions. All 16 and 18 bit units as late as 1989 reproduced violins with a metalic steely sound. The 20 bit Denon was far better in this respect. By 1991, the single bit chips changed all that. The JVC unit convinced me and by 1992, a portable Sony car Discman 808DK ($300) sounded just as good. Minor frequency response differences if they are at audible at all do not concern me.

The mechanical "quality" build of the expensive Denon player was not translated into greater reliability. It had nothing but problems almost from the start. Three trips to the nearest authroized service about 20 miles from home to repair the misaligned clamper arm were fruitless and in the end, I had to shim it myself to get it to work properly on all discs. The metal parts in the transport while heavy and well machined proved no better in use than the much cheaper plastic units. No other transport was as troublesome. The first time I disassembled it, I found out that most of the weight didn't come from the transport or a large oversized power transformer but sheet steel plates on the top and bottom. Like many other "early" high quality electronics products such as the $1500 Panasonic VCR I once owned, it served its purpose in its day but it won't be missed. It had a lot of useless features as well that I never used.