Jay's Audio CDT2-MK2


I just received my Jay's Audio transport, about which much has been written in this forum.  I hadn't considered upgrading my Wadia 8 Transport, even after reading @teajay's review of the Jay's transport, but I suddenly started having some issues with the Wadia and figured it might be time to look at something else.  
I have heard the Marantz SA-10 is a great CD player, but I don't need a DAC and I only play Redbook discs, so that player seemed overkill and overly expensive for my needs.  I have also dreamed of owning a Esoteric CD player for many years, but they also cost more than I have wanted to spend on a CD player.  When I read the review(s) on the CDT2-MK2 I became very intrigued, and recently decided to buy one.  
BTW, I noticed on their website they only show silver as a color option, so I decided to send them a message to see if I could get it in black.  To my delight he said yes, so let it be known that it is available in black and that mine is indeed, black.  If you were to ask be how much blacker it could possibly be, I'd simply answer, "none."  None more black.
Anyway, I can tell you one thing that I've learned so far, the color of the unit has nothing to do with its sound quality.  
The sound quality is quite simply the best I have ever heard in my system.  I realize that I'm writing this after a mere three hours of listening, but sometimes components have that kind of impact.  This transport is really amazing. 
I wanted to share my initial impressions right away.  I hope to have something more to say after the unit is properly broken in.  For now all I can say is it was worth every penny spent.   
128x128snackeyp
@hrabieh In my experience the separate transport and DAC set up has always sounded better, but I'm sure there are no absolutes here.  I have no experience with Jay's CDP-2 but I can imagine if it's built to the same standards as their transports it's probably a pretty good player.  
Plenty of high end CD Players include a DAC.  A good transport is a better option for folks who have a specific DAC they want to use for their digital system.  I also have a music server that runs through my DAC, so I wanted to run my transport through the same DAC.  If you have multiple digital sources you want to run through the same DAC it's usually cheaper to buy a stand alone transport.  
If you do buy a CD player that has its own DAC, I recommend choosing one that has digital outputs so that you can bypass their DAC if you find another one you like better.  Some CD players also have digital inputs to allow you to run other source components through the onboard DAC of the player.  This is a nice feature when the player has a state of the art DAC built in.  It allows you to run all your digital through one input on your amplifier for one.  
Another thing to mention is I have had bad experiences with CD player mechanisms failing over time.  The Jay's transport is very well built, so my hope is that it will last longer than some other players I've had (not low end ones btw) that did nothing but disappoint.  
The Jay's was often paired with a Denafrips DAC, but then Denafrips came out with their own transport, about which we haven't heard too much...
For now all I can say is it was worth every penny spent. my hope is that it will last longer than some other players I’ve had snackeyp
And to protect your new purchase, I suggest you get a new genuine Philips CDM-4 laser to store away for it, as they are getting very rare to find new and genuine.

Here are two new genuine that are listed, whole mech/laser and the other just laser.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Genuine-NEW-Philips-CDM-4-CDM4-laser-lens-with-Mechanism/172263656780?epid=20021718453&hash=item281bb6cd4c:g:vxkAAOSwcEtZi9Vk

https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Genuine-NEW-Philips-CDM-4-CDM4-laser-lens/172814662088?hash=item283c8e79c8:g:sG8AAOSwrhBZAuwM


Cheers George


George,
Do you recommend buying the laser-lens with or without the mechanism
Thanks
John
It's always nice to have everything new, but if your mechanically comfortable with things John, get just the laser, doing the whole laser/mech will take less than an 1hr, doing the laser only "could" be up to 1.5hrs.

Cheers George