Hi everyone,
Thanks for your replies. I'm intrigued by the way many of you have responded to these prices, though. Why is it that you are more shocked to hear about a CD192 at £650 - £250 below list price - than a CD8X at £699 - £300 below list price? It seems you all think the Arcam is the better deal, even though the discount is less and the Arcam is less highly rated by What Hifi.
Is that right?
Have any of you out there heard the CD192, the CD8X and the Apollo? And are there any implications surrounding the system I'm using - the 686s and the Brio 3?
I read in some places that the CD192 might lack a bit of life and attack. And although I don't think What Hifi's review of the 686s this month was correct (they're miles better than the Monitor Audio BR2s, in my opinion), they do have a warm, sophisticated, smooth sound, and, although I like that, I don't want to go too far down that road. Is that a risk with the CD192?
Finally, is it basically the case that, good as the Apollo is (and it is really, very good - it's the only one of the three players I've heard so far), the other two are fundamentally in a different league? If that's true, does the presumed family links between the Apollo and Brio cancel any of that out?