Doing my best to get it done for this issue (Feb.)
Great player and great dac!
I've already spent a few hours listening to it and am so far impressed. Imo, it doesn't develop quite the same degree of "air" around the performance as the MDA1000 DAC (...what does for under $10k?) but is still quite resolving without losing that smooth continuous flow of music McIntosh is noted for.
To give you an example, one of the salesmen and I were listening to the "Original Sin" track off "Sometimes God Smiles... (a sampler CD from the Discipline label). This tune is by a one-off outting with Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, Chris Botti and David Torn...calling themselves "Upper Extremeties"...and there's a point where Bruford, Levin an Botti have been laying down snaking "call and response" and it comes time for David Torn to jump in...one of the guys, from out of the background tells Torn... "It's on you Torn" I turned to the salesman and was about to ask if he had said something.
Yeah, it's that good...
It's been such a long time since I listened to the Audio Research CD3 but from my best memory the MCD500 is very similar in character with perhaps a smidge more resolution and a similar degree of improvement in soundstage dimensions.
Probably very close to the new AR CD5....save for the MCD500 adding SACD playback, dig vol control and dig inputs!!!
