older CD transport vs newer ones.

I love my McIntosh MCT 500. Pricey but well built, smooth operating, and great sounding. You also get dsd via built in thumb drive and usb. 

There is something about this that I don't understand.  First off, no one has asked about where the "streaming" is coming from.  I believe the OP when he says that the CD transport sounds better, it is after all his system.  

I don't have a dcs, but I do have a Bryston BDA-3 DAC and it buffers about 30 seconds of digital input so that it can use its internal clock to eliminate jitter.  Does the dcs not have such a feature?

And I'm not trying to say that a better transport won't be better in some circumstances, but this seems like one of those things that has a very quickly reached point of diminishing returns.

Please let me know your thoughts.  Thanks.

Regards,
barts

"And I'm not trying to say that a better transport won't be better in some circumstances, but this seems like one of those things that has a very quickly reached point of diminishing returns."

Some may feel that way. I believe that the design, engineering,  built construction,  power supply quality and implementation are just as meaningful for a CD transport as any other electronic/audio component
But as I noted above,  for some the transport for whatever reason is viewed as not as important as the DAC.

Some are of the belief that a "decent" CD player or transport is enough to get the job done. In my listening experiences,  the better the CD transport,  the better the sound quality. 
Charles 

I use a Theta Compli for years now.
Think it was about $5K in the '90s. Probably could not be made today for less than $10K. Theta was at the cutting edge of digital. 

I had Mark Levinson No.37 back in the day, used Phillips Pro transport, laser mech. Best CD transport ever owned, sad day when died, no subsequent transport came close. Gave up on cd plays, exclusive streaming today.