Alaric- I was surprised how well the Cambridge sounded with my Thiels- a potentiaally bright, harsh speaker. The Cambridge bested the others in warmth and smoothness- the others sporting a bit of top-end "digititis" and fatigue.
To clarify my system though, along with the potentially bright thiels and lively room issues, I do run warm B&K amps...
I use a H/K PA2400 to drive the Klipsch, along with a Citation 21. Both are warm sounding, and are a excellent match for the Klipsch. The PA 2400 is very similiar to the Citation 12 in the bass department, but with much more reserve.
The mids and highs aren't veiled like the Citation 12, warm but very detailed, amazingly so-so it's a much better balanced amp.
I was suprised as well, thinking the Cambridge would Be an excellent match.
Perhaps I got a bad one, the transformer had a low level buzz, but I was informed this was normal, I didn't try another one opting for the Marantz, since I did have a CC4300 (changer)hooked up to it before, and it sounded very good.
The CC5100 is more much detailed and balanced than the CC4300, a more realistic 'sound stage' if you will-perhaps the Cirus Logic D/A chips.
I always felt like the CC4300, albiet with nice overall sound, was being held back a bit, again maybe the D/A chips, better jitter performance?
They both needed some break in-the 540c improved with break in, but not enough, the bass improved, and the top mellowed abit, but it was still too 'top heavy'.
Maybe I should have tried the next evolution the 840c, but it was more than I wanted to spend.
While I enjoy used audio equipment, I'm not to up on used cd palyers. Call me lazy, but I'm not interested in replacing belts, laser pickups, or worn out servo's.
Also, it's hard to ignore the leaps and bounds CD players have taken in the last few years, especially in the areas of signal processing, attention to circuit layout and signal paths, etc.
And truth be told, I didn't really want to spend more than $300 if I could avoid it. I looked at the CC5300 at $349, but thought I'd give the 5100 a shot at $199, and was sold. The 5300 apparenetly uses SDRAM chips(i.e not generic?!) in certain areas- but the overall circuit layout is the same. It would have been an interesting listen, but I was satified with the 5100.