[jeroboam]

Hello everyone ... new subscriber but long-time lurker here.

I'm in the market for a new CD player. My player for the last 23 years has been the estimable Meridian 508.24, which I bought new in 1998 for $3495. While the Meridian still performs flawlessly, I'm itching to upgrade to the 21st century.

I have a collection of about 4500 CDs, of which about 3% are hybrid SACDs. While it would be great to have true SACD capability, I don't want to spend double the cost of a great red-book CD player.

I've been looking at two players: the Bryston BCD-3, and the Technics SL-G700. As you know, the Bryston is CD only, and the Technics is both CD and true SACD (along with streaming, which I have no interest in). I have also owned Bryston power for the last 24 years, and the amp and preamp perform flawlessly; I'm very impressed by Bryston products, and so am leaning toward the BCD-3. But the Technics is enticing, and I've read some good reviews of it.

What would you recommend? I use balanced interconnects and want to stay that way. My self-imposed limit is 5k. Also, I have no interest in used products ... having learned a hard lesson a long time ago. Finally, I'm basing my search on the assumption that either the Bryston or the Technics will offer significant sonic improvement over my 23-year-old 508.24. If anyone disagrees with that, please let me know.

I really would appreciate your advices.