CDP or Transport and DAC? Recomendations?

I went through the DAC/transport vs dedicated CDP decision process about a year ago and decided on a Denon DCD-A110.  IMHO it’ll go toe-to-toe with any product within spitting distance of its price point ($3500).

@audio-union,

There is a reason why all the really high performing CD players and transports do not play SACDs. There a compromise made in doing so. If you do a side by side on an adequate system it stick out like a sore thumb. Anything that will play them all is going to be noisier and have more jitter by design

I believethat you are definitely on to something here. It seems that when audio manufacturers are after the best Redbook CD playback they can manage, they choose to go exclusively CD only. No DVD, SACD, Blue Ray etc. Dedicate all energy and resources to getting the most from CD only. 

It seems that this single focused approach (Rather than jack of all trades)  very likely yields the best sound quality result. The Pro-Ject CD Box  RS2 transport has  been mentioned in this thread.   I own one and   the sound quality is superb!  It's very difficult to bring a listening session to a close for the night. 

Small/compact form factor design? Yes. Big performance envelop? Yes. Front panel buttons are small, however the supplied remote control  can be used if desired for "all" operating functions. Paired with a good quality DAC and you'll have a first rate digital front end if you enjoy playing CDs.

Charles 

walstib

stick with a CD/SACD player. I own around 4000 CDs and 200+ SACD discs.

Happy Listening!

I would vote for transport and dac. Leaves you with better options to upgrade and change the flavor or your setup via dac. A few days ago I hooked up my old Nad 541i to my dac and started spinning cds. Wow. Better than streaming via the Node and better than playing from ss drive from the node. Seems to lift a small amount of “digital” and sounds more relaxed and analog. I was pondering upgrading my streaming system but now it’s just gonna be cd. I think you need to spend lotsa dough on a streamer and pay much attention to your internet to rival cd. 
Now looking for a transport under 1k to see if it will beat the Nad. It should I would think. If bot I’ll return it. I live close to Audio Advisor so I may pickup. Cambridge transport in a couple days and try it out. 

@mofojo ,

Now looking for a transport under 1k to see if it will beat the Nad. It should I would think. If bot I’ll return it. I live close to Audio Advisor so I may pickup. Cambridge transport in a couple days and try it out

In that price range many seem to think quite highly of the Nuprime CDT-8 Pro and the Audiolab 6000 CDT.

Charles