Musical, detailed & not overly smooth; what I like!

No search & scan buttons on face of unit. Remote is cheap although easy to use.

I will prefice this review with a list of components & cable in the system with the Lector 0.6T, v.II tube CD player. The system is a secondary, bedroom system.
Integrated Amp: Portal Panache
Paradigm Studio 20, v.3 bookshelf speakers
Paul Speltz Anti-IC's interconnects (RCA terminated)
Paul Speltz Anti-cable speaker cable (banana terminated).

In the last 2 years I've spent a lot of time, listening & money trying to find a CD player around the $2000.00 range that mated well with Portal Panache solid state amp & Paradigm speakers. I did some inquiring on Audiogon & of course read reviews on this site. I didn't go too crazy asking millions of questions; mod or not mod? Tube or SS?, etc. Then someone on Audiogon suggested The Lector 0.6T. So it came down to The Lector or the Audio Aero Prima (newest version).

I special ordered the Lector, v.2 from Music Direct. I added the optional s/pdif output & cherry wood sides. It took awhile but was worth the wait.

I couldn't be happier! Have I found musical nirvana? Probably not, but now I can take a little, maybe long break from searching & resume a somewhat normal life again. High end audio can be addicting.

Compared to the other components (below) I lived with for awhile, The Lector is clearly more musical. Instruments & voices sound more like they should. Detail is not sacrificed with tube Class A output. Overall, it's a much more pleasant musical experience. The Bass, which is critical for me, is warm, deep & detailed. I really did like some of the other units, particularly the Classe CDP-10 but they didn't have the natural balance of the various frequencies like the Lector. All the other units auditioned, except one, are solid state units. Maybe I'm just leaning towards tubes but who knows or who cares!

Things are looking up!

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Customer Service

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Similar Products Used:

Cambridge Audio 840C, 640C, v.2 CD players
California Audio Labs CL-2500 DVD player
Arcam CD73T, DV78, CD192, FMJ DV29 CD & DVD players
Classe CDP-10 CD player (smoothest of the bunch)
Meridian 507 CD player
MHZS CD66 CD player (Tube)
Cary 308 (SS) CD player