The difference in price between the Nagra CDP and Audio Research Reference CD7 ($8995) could buy you a very good CD player. Still, as flagship models from two well-known makers, they compete for the attention of audiophiles, and I doubt the price difference would faze a buyer looking in the five-figure range. They both use the Philips CD Pro2 mechanism, and they both have single-ended and balanced outputs, although the CD7 is fully balanced from its laser to its XLR outputs. Heck, even the latitude of ARC's home in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Nagra's Cheseaux, Switzerland headquarters is similar, so the two players are practically related.
Well, not really. The Reference CD7 is roughly twice the size of the CDP and it uses tubes -- seven 6H30s -- borrowing the output stage of Audio Research's Reference 3 preamp. In many ways, the sonic differences between the CDP and Reference CD7 come down to the traditional differences between tube and solid-state electronics. The CD7 is all about physicality and in-the-listening-room presence. Like a high-quality analog front-end, it fleshes out musicians and singers in an obvious way. You can hear this throughout the musical spectrum -- from the mids, which have the sort of presence that audiophiles adore, to the bass, which has tubey weight and bloom. The CDP, in contrast, floats images amidst a highly illuminated soundstage in which you can practically see the air molecules. The CD7's soundstage, like that of all Audio Research Reference products I've heard, is huge in all dimensions, but it lacks the arid crispness the CDP conjures.
I've commented on how the sound of the Nagra CDP resembles that of ECM recordings. Well, the Audio Research Reference CD7, then, is the sonic manifestation of Telarc -- big and palpable, more about weight and presence than air, speed and precision. If the Nagra CDP represents the science of CD playback, then the Audio Research Reference CD7 represents the art. I can't imagine a listener will fall in love with the sound of one of these players and then jilt it for the other.