Cary Audio Design Classic CD 303T SACD Player

Michael Fremer has posted a review, together with John Atkinson’s test measurements, of the Cary Audio Design Classic CD 303T Professional SACD player ($6,500) at Stereophile. His conclusions:

The CD 303T costs $1500 less than Cary's CD 306, and its sound is clearly different—but I can't say it's less accomplished. The CD 306 resolves more information, and has faster attacks and longer decays, but it also makes clear how many poor-sounding CDs there are. In a direct blind comparison, I have no doubt many listeners will prefer the less expensive spread.

The CD 303T produced a more relaxed, warm, and inviting sound than the CD 306. If it was a touch vivid and overextended in the upper bass and lower midrange, that aspect of its personality was apparent only when I compared it to the far more expensive Playback Designs MPS-5. Nor was the Cary's less than fully resolving and airy top end noticeable except in such direct comparisons. And on a large percentage of discs, much of what's up there is best forgotten anyway.

Yet the CD 303T never bored me, nor did it make recordings of hard rock sound soft and polite. If it has been deliberately voiced, this has been done with incredible skill. It produced a most agreeable sound from all formats and musical genres, and its versatility can't be beat. And if you need even more warmth, use its tubed output stage.

No, it's not a dCS Scarlatti stack, but for $6500, the Cary Audio Design Classic CD 303T SACD Professional Version is beautifully built, and its exterior looks just as fine. Used in a system comprising ridiculously excellent-performing components at equally ridiculous prices, the Cary's sound came close enough to that high level that, whatever the differences, I couldn't care less about them. One of those Joni Mitchell HDCDs is playing as I write this. If you were here listening with me, I think you'd agree.

You can read the full review here.