Hi Barry,
I have auditioned this one at Pioneer Plaza in one of TAD's rooms there, with an all TAD system. Basically impossible for me to speak of the player only, but i can say what i heard or felt was their sonic goal. It struck me that they have clearly aimed to resolve as much off the CD as possible, deliver very clean, very clear separation of piano key notes (Glenn Gould Goldberg Variations 1981). They aim to deliver an even spectrum where (of the spectrum i heard), I did not sense any emphasis or shift, no bloom but neither any bloat. I did not sense the system had all-out dynamic capability, but i would not put that down to the digital for the most part...the nuances of soundfield from one player to another is not something i could discern here. but the system's soundfield/all-out dynamics was not an Alexandria but i suspect that was the TAD Ref Ones.
I think if a 50-50 balance of warm-cool, i would strike the balance of the system at around 60-cool/40-warm. Additionally, i did not find the piano keys quite as rounded on the full strike as i have heard before...and that MIGHT have been the digital. i cannot say. What i CAN say is that i instinctively felt that taking that digital into any one of a number of different systems would be a great experiment.
From the outside, the thing appeared to be built like a Nautilus Submarine...in fact, all of their electronics did. The amps had a similar foundation/footing design for stability as the original and legendary Esoteric 'P-0' transport which is only available in japan and was designed according to legend for Esoteric senior executives. (
https://zstereo.co.uk/2014/05/12/esoteric-p-0/)
Worth the money? Would i put it up against some of the similar vintage Emm Labs, Wadia, or other digital? I probably would. Do i think it was better? I think if i had to blindly choose one, other than my current Zanden, the Vivaldi or the Metronome Kalista, i would probably look at the (sadly now closed) Stahl-Tek, TAD, Emm. Have always been curious about Light Harmonics, Lampi GG which has such a hugely loyal following, and of course the Trinity which also has a huge following.