SACD/CD Drive Mechanism Replacement

no_regrets

There has never been a better time to buy a CD/SACD player. Keep me posted on the Brand/Model under consideration. Have fun test-driving.

Happy Listening!

@OP. You probably have a better chance of getting a laser replaced in an Esoteric product than most machines, given the size of Teac/Tascam/Esoteric. However, you will probably need to get an official Esoteric service agent to supply and fit it. If you are worried, the best approach would be to get a new laser now and keep the existing one in the machine as a backup. I'm referring to the laser - which is almost always the component that fails. As the VRDS has been replaced by Atlas, you will not necessarily be able to get a complete new transport mechanism. However, the VRDS drive unit is extremely reliable.

@ghdprentice   Thank you again for the excellent run down on how the streamer works, etc!  Could I use my MacBookPro as the "remote" to run the Aurender streamer instead of an iPad? ( I'm just hoping to not have to spend money on yet another item, lol.)

I'm just in the very early stages of considering jumping into the digital side of things.  Originally, my thought was to buy a used high end SACD/CD one box unit.  Thinking that I could get better sound out of the admittedly small 100+ cd collection that I currently have and then also to start collecting SACD's.

Now, hearing that streaming with an excellent streamer can gain me access to SACD quality sound on 1000's of titles for roughly $15/mth sounds very appealing to me.  As also the added bonus of not having to worry about a laser/transport mechanism failing and having the fear of it not being able to be replaced.

So, now knowing that to get the better sound that I would desire, I should plan on budgeting equal amounts of money on both the streamer and the dac; I wonder about this the following as a possible scenario...

Instead of buying a used high end SACD/CD one box player; what if I would use my ancient Rotel 955AX cd player that uses the TDA1541A multi-bit dac that I've had for decades (which still amazingly somehow plays without skipping) as a cd transport via coax into a very nice dac (which I would still have to buy), allowing me to play my current cd's while saving up for a very nice Aurender streamer.  My hope would be that the new dac would give me a significant upgrade in sound over the internal dac of the Rotel.  Or would that not be the case because the inexpensive Rotel would not make a decent enough transport to reap the sonic gains of the new dac?

Best wishes,

Don

@jafant  My original thoughts were to buy a very nice SACD/CD one box player.  I was considering something along the lines of the EMM Labs XDS1 v2 or XDS1v3 or a Playback Designs model.  Both of which, if I recall correctly utilize Esoteric's VSOP drive mechanism.  If I am not mistaken, Esoteric will no longer sell these drives to other manufacturers or to consumers.  They will only use them in Esoteric gear.

I'm still trying to decide what will be the best route for me to follow.  Analog is my first love for the recorded medium and I will not be giving that up.  I have a lot of money invested in the analog set up and vinyl records; and to my ears it sounds amazing.  I am investigating the digital side of things as I am aware it has come a long ways over the years and I am discovering that there is a lot of great music that I am missing out on that is not available on vinyl.

Best wishes,

Don

no_regrets

You cannot go wrong with Esoteric, EMM Labs nor Playback Design for CD/SACD needs. 

Happy Listening!