There is still a market for dedicated CD players among separates buyers, and the ERC-2 had a completely unacceptable transport, so they needed a redesign to go to a conventional drawer mechanism. The price is the same as the ERC-2, so I still consider it a bargain, on a parts cost to retail ratio. The fly in the ointment is that preamp-DACs or pre-pros make more sense and are getting more common, even Emo has one, so all of that fancy balanced circuitry may likely go to waste.