Summary:
I used the Denon DCD 1290 for three years. It has never failed in it's operation. The sound is excellent in detail. This year I replaced my Monster Cable interconnects with JPS Superconductor interconnect cables. The sound really opened-up. The high-end and midrange became very detailed. The bass became more distinct. This happened without any overemphasis of the sound. Just more detail. It reawakened all my cd's and I began hearing things that I never heard before. I'm listening to all my old cd's again. The cables brought out the best in this cd player.

Strengths:
soundstage and range detail

Weaknesses:
you need high-end interconnect cables to truly hear what this cd player is capable of doing.

Summary:
This is a modified serie of the standard 1290. The modification was initiated by the dutch importing firm.As it is not the only player I have (had), I can compare it with others:
the sony 505 es, the kenwood mini 800 and the very first Philips player.
Compared to all of these, the denon is more musical and gives voices and instruments the lofty room they need. So stick to multi-bit technique !
Other components : harman amp 655 vxi, b&w dm2/2 speakers, monitor speaker cables and monster cable interconnect.
Attention: NEVER use a standard interconnect because the difference is realy dramatic...