Transports: Simaudio, Pro-ject, Jays

Let's put the question another way: does anyone know of any CDPs or CDTs that DON'T successfully play the CD layer of a hybrid SACD?  If some don't, I would have thought that that was more the fault of the manufacturer of the SACD than of the CDP.

I have a Simaudio Neo260D; excellent machine; it doesn't play SACDs

I have a Simaudio Moon 260D and while it is not an SACD player it will play the standard red book CD layer on a Hybrid SACD. I only have a few Hybrid SACD's and they work fine.
I have also been able to play the CD-R’s that I have without any problem.
Also, I purchased mine with the onboard DAC and think it is a very nice sounding DAC. I am currently running my Bluesound Node 2i through the Moon DAC.
Connection from the Moon CD player to my preamp is with balanced interconnects.

I wrote a review on the Pro-Ject transport for the Stereo Times website. The other transports you mention were in-house, among many others, and the Pro-Ject clearly outperformed all of them. There are two other threads on this topic and everyone who has gotten the Pro-Ject piece has been quite impressed.

Regarding your dealer experience: 1) Pro-Ject's build quality is quite good and the company customer support is excellent. 2) Oh, I'll bet his profit margin is a lot less on the Pro-Ject than the Sim Audio, and that's why he was pushing that model over the Pro-Ject transport.

Teajay (Terry London)

Personally, if I were buying an expensive transport right now, between the 3, I would buy a Jays with 2 extra transports. The Pro-ject may be great, but they are a new company with a new product and who knows where they’ll be in a year or 2 in these times. And nobody, Terry included, is going to reimburse you for the transport if it breaks and the company can’t be found. I’m not talking about Pro-ject, I’m talking about the company that makes the transports. With the Jays and the extra transports, you are assuring yourself many years of service. I’m not saying you should follow this advice, I’m just saying what I would do if I were shopping in this price range. Good luck. I know when Linn put out their CD12, they stocked up on enough extra transports to service all the units in the field, which was a great idea.  I certainly don't know a lot of people with CD12s, but I have never read a post anywhere where a CD12 owner ended up with a boat anchor.