Hi George

I think the 602 has the better tonal balance and an 'analogue' quality that I'm told is due to the single beam laser mechanism used.

The G98 has better timing, a wider soundstage, better seperation of the instruments and generally has a more detailed presentation. It also exhibits a 'digital', 'glassy/course' type of sound on hi-hats and cymbals which took some getting used to.

As usual with an upgrade, it's 'swings and roundabouts' you gain in some areas and lose in others. The key point is that it is also a fine DVD player with extremely good picture quality on component output. For a single box DVD/CD transport it's very good. However, having listened to the Chord Blu CD transport and the dCS Verdi CD/SACD transport there is better CD replay available with similar qualities to the 602.