Ideal Qualities of a CD/SACD Transport

If SACD isn’t a must have I’d put Jay’s CDT Mk3 on your list — built like a brick crap house and it’s “only” $5k.  Best of luck.

https://www.jays-audio.com/cdt3-mk3

Iam very familiar with your theta gen  DAC VII Its a heck of a good DAC , it will compete with new DAC sound wise. SACD are amazing when they work.I think they are sensitive with their lens. If you don’t have sacd collections? I go DAC and transport .

I previously owned a modified CD Museatex Melior CD-D transport, it was heavily modded by  Steve Sank and was the best I had heard for many years. Until my dealer brought over the new Bricasti M19 CD transport to audition, I found its performance to be substantially better in terms of  transparency, clarity, and  musicality compared to my modified Museatex unit. Yes this all thru the I2S connection.

Despite the high cost I decided the Bricasti M19 was worth purchasing because of its superior sound quality and my sizable CD collection that I wanted to get the best playback from.

While I find streaming audio to sound good, I think the Bricasti transport provides a noticeably higher level of performance when playing CDs.

Not defective out of the box for starters.

jmeyers

You have a nice system as viewed in Virtual Systems. The Theta Digital and Wadia are still excellent players. Gear like this was built to last. No doubt, that a newer DAC/Transport combo or Reference Spinner will extract and unlock more goodness from those silver discs (CD and SACD).  I look forward in reading more about the Bricasti M21 DAC and supporting Transport.

Happy Listening!

I would look for the least expensive model with DSD out from a reputable brand.

I'm not sure, but I seem to recall that my old Sony xa5400es has two lasers, one for CD, one for SACD. That is a refinement I do not think all have. I could be wrong.

If you consider used, find one with low hours of use because the lasers do get weak with age, and the 1st to go is the ability to read the SACD layer.

I chose the Sony xa5400es for many reasons, one of which is the availability of used laser assembly.

oem laser assembly

you might see if/what parts are available for any unit you are considering, especially if a rare/pricey brand. Ask maker: can you buy a spare laser assembly now? Ought to tell you something.

I can’t play in a $26K sandbox for a transport so I probably won’t be able to give you a great answer.

I use an Oppo 105 for SACD .  The Oppo can be set to output the DSD layer of SACD over HDMI.  My Bryston DAC has 4 HDMI inputs.  My SACDs sound fantastic.  With chamber music I have had several times where I thought the ensemble was in my room.

  Years ago I had a Pioneer Elite receiver that had a proprietary FireWire link to a Pioneer Elite DVD/SACD player.  While otherwise the AVR sounded like an unremarkable AVR, when paired with the SACD player magic happened.

  I have never had anI2S in my system.  My bias, based on the above experiences, is that it will beat the pants off of any thing that converts DSD back to PCM.

  As to what cable to use, my bias is AES.

I would also consider a SACD player at least five yrs warranty. Who has a good support technically speaking.With parts accessibility after five yrs. My marantz sa10 has only 3yrs warranty, too short for a 7k unit.It is not a good warranty.