Price Paid:  $2500.00 from My Audio, Poland

Summary:
I am very proud - I am still owner and I don`t think to change my digital source.
Smooth even handed very musical sounding player. Sound is excellent. Warm, responsive, gorgeous transparency. Very quick and silent transport tray and also HDCD DAC in one small but elegant box. Alu non-magnetic case. XLR balanced outputs most better signal quality than rca`s unbalanced outputs.
So I am very happy with the product. Highly recommended!

Strengths:
Musical, natural warm analog sounding like turntable and easy on the senses.
Fantastic tray mechanism - works soft,fast and very silent - true high end.
Livelike analog sound, original look, build exterior and interior quality - SMD.

Weaknesses:
cheap remote - why? Display is poor.

Similar Products Used:
Teac VRDS25X modified, CEC TL51ZmkII, Primare CD20, Rotel RCD991AE, Quad CD-S99, CEC CD2100, Marantz CD6000 OSE KI Signature, Denon CD2000AE,
Musical Fidelity CD5, Audionet ART1

Price Paid:  $0.00 from natural sound

Summary:
this is an excellent cd player, I have had it over 2 years, very musical and full sounding, works great with my tube gear too.
I have had a few cd players in my house.The naimcdx2,ML390s,even the mighty Linn CD12.

I definately prefer the linn to the naim, I found the Naim too electronic sounding,the bigger brother is better but at 20 k Yikes, the ML390s and the Linn were my 2 favorite and the Linn is quite a bit less costly.

An excellent front end for any system,cant go wrong with this one

Strengths:
excellent overall sound, ease of use, works great with tube gear

Weaknesses:
not a whole lot

Similar Products Used:
Linn, rega,Mcintosh,Naim, M Levinson

Price Paid:  $3200.00 from AZ

Summary:
After 3 years of trying CD Players and having my local dealer pund into my head that the Ikemi is one of teh best CDP's around, I decided to try it. In th epast I have owned Sony SCD-1, 77&ES, XA777ES, Cary 306/200, 208T, Shanling T100, Mark Levinson No 39, and a few others.

The Ikemi has a "lively" sound and a TAD thin. The best Cd player I have ha din my system befor enow is the Cary 306/200 - That is a phenominal player, and you can get it cheaper than an Ikemi.

The Ikemi has something special about it though. A sweet sound that hooked you into the music. It blows away redbook on any of the SOny SACD ES players.

BUT I ended up going back to a SCD-1 with a Audiomeca DAC - This way I get SACD, and an even sweeter more involving sound than the Ikemi on redbook. Now, this Sony/Audiomeca combo is almost 2X the price of the Ikemi so if you are looking for a one box player, I would suggest the Ikemi or Cary 306/200. These are two of the best Ive heard in my system. I feel the Linn is a bit overpriced and should come in at $2500 for what it is.

Strengths:
Transport, sweet sound

Weaknesses:
A little thin with bass, small clunky black boc does not look like anything special. Remote is OK

Similar Products Used:
Almost everything under $4k

Price Paid:  $3600.00 from audio alternative Ft

Summary:
I am very proud of my decision here. I am sure all of you have purchased a product and later said "I wish I'd bought the ___ instead" I can't even think this with the Ikemi. I had a Rega Planet that was good, actually excellant for the price range. Then I upgraded to a Rega Jupiter 2000, whoops. I the purchased the Ikemi after in home trials of the Genki and Ikemi. At first I thought, nope the Genki is the equivelant in sound the Ikemi is just higher due to features. Then the Ikemi settled in the second day with the cables and the Genki went back to the dealer. This player maximizes the redbook cd's capability. What a precise machine for extracting and converting ever last byte out of a disc. What a detailed accurate warm representation it breings to the table. After about a 9 month period I upgraded to Cardas Golden Reference cables and WOW. This Ikemi if just unbelievable. What a wonderful time I have had learning more about each recording as I listen to my old collection. If you can find it used or afford it new, forget the SACD DVD-A war untill it reaches its climax. Re-discover your current collection. As an added not I recently purchased a Marantz DV-8300 DVD video/ DVD-A/SACD etc player.
It is a nice machine but it did once again bring to light the outstanding performance of the Ikemi.

Strengths:
Accurate sound reproduction, well built, even the drawer is a point of strength. 2 sets of RCA's and 1 Set of Balance and one each for digital output. Simple well thoughtout face plate and controls. Smaller than standard width component for easy placement and isolation.

Weaknesses:
remote control coding difficult to learn for other multi brand learning remotes

Similar Products Used:
rega planet
rega Jupiter 2000
marantz DV8300

Price Paid:  $2300.00 from audiogon

Summary:
This player replaced my Mimik and was an immediate improvement. The bass is extended and very defined. The treble is smooth and clear. The ikemi can play music at much higher levels without causing fatigue. The transport is solid and quiet. Clearly one of the best players I have listened to.

Strengths:
LINN sound
solid transport
extended bass

Weaknesses:
I haven't found any yet.

Similar Products Used:
Linn mimik other players from NAD, Naim, Nakamichi, AH, Pioneer, Sony