Oppo 980 or Sony 9100ES or Denon 3910 as transport

Thanks for your reply. I am still in the "contemplative" stage and am looking at every possible option. It is hard to give up the Oppo as a video source since it is so precise and versatile. I don't mind having a separate Redbook CD source, as long as it is superior to the DVD source.

I don't think anything with a DVD drive should be used as a transport.

I'd be interested to hear why you think that. Some people -- the Bound for Sound guy, for example -- have argued the opposite, that DVD drives make the best transports.

I doubt that calling a drive DVD or CD makes much difference. It is all about the construction of the drive. I have heard that DVD drives are more like computer drives and that is appealing.

My bias against DVD players as transports has only about a 50% technical basis, though I've heard rational arguments against as well as for. It just boils down to my own personal bias based on experience with both.

The main reason why I don't like them is that I think dedicated CD decks sound better. Again, just my personal experience.

But it also has to do with practical criteria. Trigsham expressed concern about any "operational quirks." In this respect, for 2-channel audio, DVD interfaces are often impractical, requiring some kind of monitor in the room to do setup. Even if you have one, as it seems he does, I find that skipping tracks and scanning forward or back can be frustrating on DVD units. Plus, the remotes and controls have tons of buttons and functions totally superfluous to CD playback. I've rarely seen a setup where unnecessary complication results in better sound.

Tgrisham also said he wanted something with "low jitter and tank-like reliability". I think almost all sub-$1000 DVD players are built like crap. Whereas an old Denon or Sony ES or Marantz or Pioneer Elite is built like a tank and can now be had cheaply. A solid, well-isolated chassis is always going to be a good thing. Not that there aren't well-made DVD players, and in fact there are plenty from the brands mentioned above, but then we get back to all those circuits just sitting there doing nothing related to Red Book playback. And all those empty, unused outputs around back.

Just my opinion.

Thinking about it, though, if he likes the sound of the Jolida, why not keep it? Or try an Oppo back-to-back? So what if the tube section is being bypassed? If it really bothers you, I think the tubes are just for the analog output stage so just take them out of the player and enjoy.

But if you really want the best Red Book and SACD playback, I still say go for a dedicated SACD/CD player.

Ekobeshy, thanks for your thoughtful reply. Much of what you say makes sense. When you think of a dedicated SACD/CD player as a transport, which ones do you think of?