Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiny
I've heard the Boulder and Ayre players in one of our local stores here in Chicago ... I've also been to a store in Dallas where I heard the Ayre in comparison to Audio Research ...
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This is the reason I wish the general public could attend CES and similar. It is simply impossible to A/B a wide range of products if you rely on the retail store approach. Few stores carry a wide range of products [for many reasons, I suspect].
Of course, CES, and the like, have brand pairings in the different demo rooms [based on business affiliations, etc.]. But, at least you can keep some of your listening thoughts fresh in your mind as you meander down hallways and travel in the elevators between floors. That freshness is certainly lost in the car, train, and/or plane between retail stores.
As for the Boulder 1021 CD player, I remain torn. I like the one box approach and one less set of IC's. But, I also like the flexibility that a separate DAC offers with regards to component change outs within a system. Of course, you can bypass the internal DAC's, but then you paid for something not being used.
Boulder
Ayre
MCD1000/MDA1000
MBL
They're all so impressive that it seems only a full system comparison makes sense. Either you use the same system and slide these different CD components in and out for a true A/B, or you place each CD component in its ideal system and try and compare the overall result. That would appear to be the CES approach. You select a sound from a specific demo room as being your favorite, and you buy that collection of components, IC's, and speaker wires: acoustics aside.