BTW, I am leery of spending a lot of money on a transport because at their heart is a mechanical system (the actual transport) which is prone to wear and breakdown, and with those parts becoming an endangered species repairs may be difficult and not cost effective. It's good to hear someone's PS Audio PWT is holding up well though.
Considering buying a CD transport
My current disc spinner is a Cambridge Audio 751BD which I'm now mostly (except for SACDs) using as a transport, as I vastly prefer the sound of my Bryston BDA1 DAC to what comes through the CA. Even through the Bryston DAC, CDs can sound shrill. The CA works extremely well for DVDs, Blu-ray discs and SACDs, but I don't think I'm enjoying my rather extensive CD collection as I should. Would a separate transport make enough difference to be worth considering? I've been reading reviews of the Cyrus CDt which are tempting, but I'd like to hear some real-world opinions first. Unfortunately, there are budgetary constraints, so I would like not to exceed about $2K.
The rest of the system: Hegel H200 integrated, Proac Response D2s, REL S2 sub, Clarus Aqua analog interconnects & speaker cables, Nordost coax.
The rest of the system: Hegel H200 integrated, Proac Response D2s, REL S2 sub, Clarus Aqua analog interconnects & speaker cables, Nordost coax.
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If all you want to do is play CDs, this, from Sparkler Audio comes under your budget. I listened to it through headphones at the Newport show and it sounded rather nice. The designer used to work with 47 Labs and you can see it in his model. It comes with the 16 bit NOS DAC but you might be able to get just the spinner if that is all you need. All the best, Nonoise |
Thanks again for the opinions and advice. I'm actually pretty fond of my Bryston DAC with its pure class A output circuits. It's a huge step up from the DACs I've had (including a PS Audio DL III with mods). (I may even someday consider a BDA3, as it also has HDMI inputs and DSD capability). The CA universal player is a really good for video, especially with Bryston doing the heavy lifting for sound. That's why I'm thinking transport rather than a CD player--just to lift the sound of CDs that one step higher. The weight of opinion seems to favor PS Audio's PWT, and I'll certainly keep my eyes open for that, but I'm still interested in any opinions about Cyrus (the availability of which seems pretty limited in the US), if anybody's actually experienced one. The reviews are very positive. |
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