Differences the Project RS2 Transport and the (newest) Jay's Audio CD2 Mk 3

Great thread.I'm using a CEC 3.3 and couldn't be happier but the addiction of pursuing excellence has a hold on me.Considering Jays MKIII and the Project at this time.Chuckie and Charles you guys rock.

@ akgwhiz

The Pro-Ject RS2T CD Box transport, with its top lid fully opened to its upright position, where it will stay open whilst you load/unload a CD, the upper edge of the opened top lid measures 9 3/8" (nine and three-eighths inches) above the top of the surface the transport is placed upon - so if the underside of a shelf above your transport is 9 1/2" or more above the top of the shelf below it, your transport’s top lid will comfortably clear the underside of the shelf above it. (I very carefully measured my own RS2 T, using a quality Stanley carpenter’s tape measure.)

While I don't own either the Jay's or the Project transports I can state without a doubt different transports do indeed make a difference. I currently have an Oppo 203, an Emotiva ERC-4 and just recently acquired used but in new condition Audiolab 6000CDT transport. Each of these components sound quite a bit different too. The ERC-4 has by far the most digital outputs which includes everything but I2S with the other two coax only. Everything else being equal I much prefer AES to coax and in that vain I recently purchased a 110 ohm AES cable from DH Labs but this one has a traditional RCA connector on the source end with XLR connector on the DAC end. Works perfectly!

Apparently AES connectors do not have the same emphatic impedance connector specs as 75 ohm coax. Regardless I've tried several different AES cables and much prefer the DH Labs, so it was a no brainer when they told me an RCA > XLR cable was available. To those other 6000CDT users in this thread I can only highly recommend this approach assuming your DAC has AES inputs. 

No doubt the Jays CDT and Project CDT are awesome if you have the budget and associated DAC with I2S inputs but for now its just too rich for my blood and the Audiolab with modified AES will have to do.

Hope this helps

@ stevenmarchesano

Yes, you’re right about not judging a new piece of audio equipment right away, especially if it’s brand-new from the factory - not only for your "shiny new object" reason, but also because your new electronic gear needs some genuine "break-in" time during which all its inner components "get to greet and know one another," and from there "learn" how to get along and work their way into a synergistic whole, after which your music will be free to make its way through your new gear from start to finish, unscathed, without tripping over obstacles in its path.

Sounds like you're talking about a marriage.