I have played around with transports for a long time and we have done a lot of direct comparisons.
On one test we tried Proceed CDD, CAL ICON, Counterpoint (with the CDM12) and the clear winner of that test was the Proceed.
On another test we used Meridian 200, CAL DX1, Magnavox CDB624, with the clear winner bieng the Meridian, with more dynamics, the others being not so far behind amazingly!
On another test we run Proceed against a Krell CD30, the owner prefered the Krell and kept it, I prefered the Proceed but didnt have the funds at the time to buy it.
All this tests were done with an EAD 7000 series III DAC and Siltech or Madrigal SPDIF.
On a more recent test we tried the CEC TL-1, Modded Pioneer DVD, Metronome CD player (as transport), and MusicHall CD25 with PS mods. The DAC used was a Benchmark with Siltech cable, The clear winner of course the CEC, way behind the Metronome and MusicHall with diferent flavors, insultingly behind was the DVD player.
An engineer once wrote a big paper on the Sony 707ES as transport, and then told me the Pioneer DVD player would be soooo much better than the Sony...I would advice just trust your ears, but try to make direct comparisons, the same day on the same system with the same cables, and the same song, diferences are obvoius they jump at you, no need for a sixth sense or ESP!
