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Good transport for under 1K?

I went ahead and got a good DAC (HOLO Spring), and I wanted to pair it with a good cd transport for my redbook collection.   There are so few on the market nowadays.  I only know of the Cambridge CXC.  I prefer new gear, so if anyone can suggest one I’d be very grateful.

T
tyan42
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

I have modded the CEC, Sony, Electrocompaniet, Mark Levinson and many other transports over 10 years to improve their jitter.  My modded Sony DVP-7700 was a reference for many years.  None of these are as good as the Synchro-Mesh added to a transport.  If you want the best performance, this is it.  The added bonus is you get 24/96 upsampling and galvanic isolation, so no ground-loop.  30-day money-back, less shipping.

If you believe that somehow transports impart some sort of magic on the audio, you are simply wrong.  It's ONLY about jitter, signal integrity and impedance matching.  99% of transports don't deliver on these.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

Ag insider logo xs@2x
knownothing
1,579 posts
 
I would listen to Steve (audioengr) on this. Your <$1,000 would be better spent on a box that fixes jitter than on a pretty box that creates it but can’t fix it. I assume you already/still have a cd player with digital output that you are using now?

On another subject, Herb Reichert inadvertently reviewed the Holoaudio Spring DAC for Stereophile using the Triode Wire Labs Digital-American Series power cord. When he replaced that power cord with a generic cord, the Spring list some of its magic. If you do not already have one, a good power cord may also add more listening value than a fancy transport.
maritime51's avatar
maritime51
1,288 posts
 
Steve, I use a Rotel RCD 1572. How would I use and connect your product. 
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

@maritime51 - Simple.  Just use a 1.5m coax cable from your Rotel Transport digital coax output to the Synchro-Mesh input and a second high-quality 1.5m coax cable from the Synchro-Mesh output to any DAC coax input.  The output of the DAC is left and right channel analog.

A few transports actually have digital coax input, so you can use the transport and the DAC in the same component and reclock the signal for improved clarity and imaging.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

maritime51's avatar
maritime51
1,288 posts
 
Thanks. I forgot to mention my Rotel rc1590, with built in dac. So, I’d put your device between the two?  Thanks
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