New, Very Interesting CD Transport

I too once used an LG BluRay player as a transport, then the ever popular Onkyo 7030 CDP. Both sounded blah but I was willing to believe it was just the CD medium.

I heard someone raving about CD Transports and as luck would have it someone local was selling a Cambridge Audio CXC Transport. So, I could find out for myself immediately. WOW, eye opening improvement. Not subtle at all.

Suddenly, the 800 CDs in my attic became a playground of new/old discoveries. 300 of which have made it into my listening room. Now I wish I had not given away all those CD Racks.

I heard other great reviews of the Audiolab CDT6000 in the same price range as the CXC. So, taking a bit of a risk I bought a used one of those, too. I really like the CXC but the CDT6000 is just that little bit better.

These two models are on the used market for between $300 and $400. You owe it to yourself to try one - don't be a bits is bits guy proud of his $16  purchase on eBay. Don't be someone with zero actual knowledge how good your CDs can sould and then tell others that it's crazy to spend more on something designed to do a much better job doing a single job as perfectly as possible.

I didn’t mean CDs don’t spin at differing rates - but a constant velocity as you mentioned. A different velocity from SACDs and Video disc playback. The drive is optimized for Redbook playback. The laser is optimized for Redbook playback. The power supply is optimized for the CLV of Redbook playback.

I didn’t say DSD wasn’t a plus as a format. Just that when you are working at Redbook optimization the multiple lasers, tracking angle, speeds and extra cost are not a plus to include a SACD dirve in a Redbook CD Transport.

@creativepart 

I heard other great reviews of the Audiolab CDT6000 in the same price range as the CXC. So, taking a bit of a risk I bought a used one of those, too. I really like the CXC but the CDT6000 is just that little bit better.

These two models are on the used market for between $300 and $400. You owe it to yourself to try one - don't be a bits is bits guy proud of his $16  purchase on eBay. Don't be someone with zero actual knowledge how good your CDs can sould and then tell others that it's crazy to spend more on something designed to do a much better job doing a single job as perfectly as possible.

Salient points. I know that some listeners report  hearing no difference between a very cheap player/transport and  higher end versions. If that is their  experience, who am I to argue with them ? They  have  saved themselves considerable money. This just has not been the case in my experience. Consistently  better built, better engineered and designed CD transports sound significantly better in my listening experience.

I have also observed (As cited above)  that the higher quality better sounding  transports are dedicated CD only rather than a jack of all trades multi format approach. So again, it depends on what someone is trying to accomplish.

Charles

Looks nice for the price compared to the competition by Cambridge, Audiolab and Pro-Ject.

In a interesting sort of way it reminds me of an ’upgraded’ portable CD player with much better chassis and internals.

I like it.

Bits are bits. Wires are wires. No difference in the sound of any turntable(s) because they all just spin an album. Someone stated a Sony Walkman portable CD player running on batteries is the best CD player for his audio system. All amps sound the same. What’s the truth, who knows?... we just take the ride.