Friends did laugh at me and my newly acquired Rega Planet CD player, that was back in the 90s.
When they went to listen their face looked panic, how could this strange looking thing sound that great !
Wonderfull company.
I can confirm the Aethos is fantastic (and made me sort of forget dreaming of 3-boxes of Naim)
Their CD players are superb and still fully supported (something other companies can only dream of - included this very)