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Resolving CD Transports Crowd Sourcing

Hi everyone! A couple of years ago I purchased my endgame CD transport- a Pro-Ject CD Box RS2T. Loved almost everything about the unit--highly resolving presentation, dead quiet background, balanced placement of instruments in a believable 3 dimensional soundstage, and  the synergy it had with my components. In fact I loved the transport so much I had two of them because Pro-Ject quality control and customer service is the pits. After almost a year of hassles, I'm swearing of Pro-Ject.

I'm in the market for a replacement CD transport that has the same qualities of the Pro-Ject minus the quality issues and customer service.

PS Audio, Jay's Audio, CEC, Audio Research (which are CD/DAC units) come up in my search. What are your thoughts? With all the bells and whistles the Pro-Ject was around $3300, so that gives you an idea of my budget, though I could go higher.

Thanks in advance!

128x128wharfy
wharfy's avatar
wharfy OP
352 posts
 

I ordered the Schiit Urd transport. Schiit will let me return up to 15 days, so it’s a good place to start auditioning. If decide to keep it, the unit has up to a 5 year warranty (2 years on the drive mechanism).

Like the Pro-Ject CD Box, the Urd uses the Stream Unlimited CD PRO-8 with the integrated Blue Tiger servo. Another thing/feature I like about the Urd is it is optimized for USB, which is what my DAC manufacturer recommends (Musetec Audio (LKS Audio) MH-DA005 ES9038). And yes, both the DAC and Urd are UAC2 compatible. Additionally, I currently have my Aurender N200 running to the DAC via USB, and the Urd has an additional networking feature (Unison USB Hub) that will let me keep this connection.

As others have said, it ships,"sometime in October."

David

wharfy's avatar
wharfy OP
352 posts
 

@liquidsound 

Sounds like a winner. What DAC are you running?

David

wharfy's avatar
wharfy OP
352 posts
 

@sealegs 

I am going to audition the Simaudio 260DT. The fit and finish looks fabulous. As mentioned previously, I am concerned about the transport mechanism failures that others have reported.

David

lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,614 posts
 

@wharfy 

Congratulation on ordering Urd. I hate to bring this up now but I can’t believe no one has brought up the Ayon CD Transport. Maybe out of your price point but it deserves a shoutout to anyone considering a top notch CD transport. Check it out! 
https://www.ayonaudio.com/product/ayon-cd-t-ii-transport/

sealegs
23 posts
 

@wharfy 

FYI, John Darko recently reviewed the URD.

https://youtu.be/zguY93eWX5k?si=_JBXlrVEOY4qxT19

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