Thiel Owners

All - I just got word from Bill Thalmann at Music Technology that the SACD section of Thiel's SCD-1 is not economically repairable. I am abandoning the machine at Bill's place in Virginia. Anyone interested in it for any use may contact him.

Now, I'm exploring solutions for CD/SACD spinning. He soups up the Oppo 105 and 205, or PS Audio's entry sounds interesting. Any thoughts or recommendations?

I have a ModWright Oppo 105D. An excellent player. But I am only using the Oppo right now as disc player and sending digital output to an external DAC. The DAC quality is the most important thing. I’d get a universal player that can do hdmi out for SACD and get an external DAC.

As far as disc spinners go (I'm into file playback), Oppo has an excellent track record (and I have a bunch of Oppo players still) but they the 105 will be 5 years old in a few months and who knows how much longer it will be supported.  Besides the used market, there's stuff like - https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/cdplayer/home-audio/audio-components/cd-sacd-...

I'd think among the best transports today (depends on budget of course) are these - https://www.esoteric.jp/en/category/sacd_cd_player

Thanks for the leads. I'm seriously considering the Benchmark DAC3B for freestanding conversion driving their HPA4 to get the headphone amp in the analog preamp chassis. So, I'm shopping for a CD/SACD transport only.

I own the DAC3B and sold the HPA4 recently. I made money on the sale and no longer needed a headphone amp. I also bought the Benchmark LA4 preamp a few days ago. The DAC3B and HPA4 work great with the AHB2. Nothing I have had is as silent.

However, if your system is a little on the bright side of things (sources, speakers, cables). Then the DAC3B and HPA4 may not be a great fit. Check out a Gustard X26 Pro at $1500 which is a little warmer and also works nicely with the HPA4.

Saying all of this I do like the DAC3B, especially with hard rock.