Streaming vs Physical Media

I have both an Audiolab 6000CDT and a Bluesound Node 2i. Both were about $500 retail and both are paired with my Denafrips Pontus R2R ladder DAC. The CDs best streaming SQ by a wide margin to my ears. CDs are my primary medium for critical listening but I enjoy streaming for exploring new music and listening outdoors on my deck. I own over 2.5k CDs and SACDs and a good amount of the titles are currently not available for streaming.

I have not heard the Audiolab 6000 CDT but it receives consistent positive comments for sound quality at a very affordable price. @bkeske ​​​​@mksun congratulations! I hope at some point you all are able to hear the Pro-Ject RS2T and Jay’s Audio CD transports.

Granted they are both higher cost but I bet both of you would really enjoy them. Exquisite CD playback sound quality. I strongly suspect that the same can be applied to the Technics transport/network model owned @nonoise. It seems that Technics took a no nonsense approach.

1 Much attention addressing vibration/resonance of the spinning drive unit.

2 Fully discrete analog output stage circuit (They eschewed op-amps).

3 Serious focus on power supply quality. No doubt this device does justice to playing disc media.

Charles

@charles1dad Thanks for the advice! I have long had my eye on the Jay’s Audio transport first the CDT Mk II and now the Mk 3 as my next upgrade. I had read that it pairs nicely with the Pontus and I would be able to use the I2S inputs for increased SQ. Now if I could only overcome the funding issues. 😀

@mksun 

Patience is a virtue.😊 

In the meanwhile you have the Audiolab 6000 CDT to enjoy.

Charles

@bkeske, congratulations on your Audiolab transport purchase. CD still has a lot going for it and it takes significant work to better CD quality from a streaming system. While I am getting excellent results from high resolution streaming, I have no intention of ditching my CDs - or ripping them  - life is too short for that!