Hi amer,

Since the 325 uses identical DSP chips to the 525, I should think its sound quality would be identical. Yes, I forgot about HDCD, which when it was introduced was cloaked in a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo that was never fully explained by its original developer (Pacific Microsonics). I wouldn't base a buying decision on the presence of an HDCD decoder.

Regards,

Alan Lofft,
Axiom Resident Expert (Retired)