Abe
Not sure if this will be much help or not. I did a lot of research on CD players and auditioned quite a few in the 500.00 to 1200.00 range. As you know this is a fiercely competitive price point for the person that is looking to get into "entry level audiophile" territory. Along the way in my research I hit an article on 6 moons site on the Music Hall explaining all the upgrades levels and pricing. That led me to the Underwood site. The guy that runs Underwood is right here in Atlanta. At this point I had already decided to purchase the NAD 542 new unless I hit on something great on ebay which I had bee searching regularly. I was just about to order the NAD when there was an auction on a mint condition Music Hall CD25 with a level 1 upgrade and portions of the level 2 upgrade already done. I decided to wait out the auction and if I didn't get it I would then order the NAD. Well I won the bid and got the unit for $400.00
Since the upgrade was already done I have no before / after evaluation on the effect of the upgrade. But I can tell you the Music Hall sounds as good as anything I have auditioned up to the $1200.00 range. The highs are not bright at all. I dare to say it actually has a more analog sound to it. (please don't flame me too bad guys I'm new here) The main reason I decided to go with the MH was that it was HDCD compatible. I love the Music Hall but I don't particularly like the remote. It has small buttons and feels weird. This is easily fixed with a universal remote if it becomes a real problem. The previous owner who had the upgrades done claimed it added much more to the bottom end and cleaned up the sound overall.
