Amer, as Alan indicated, the "sound" as played through either the 325 or 525 should be identical; neither one would audibly change it. The HDCD is meaningless in my opinion, but one difference that may or may not be meaningful to you is that the 525 has bass management for DVD-A or SACD, if you might be thinking of getting into that. Note that you can find the 525 for as low as $650 shipped.

Last edited by JohnK; 03/18/03 09:15 PM.
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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.