Looking for a good Transport. Help.

Philips VAU1254 CD-PRO2 that is. Lost that part somehow. :)

Mariusz

i also vote for the Cec transport TL51 series.The audio note transports are also very good but a bit pricey.

The CEC TL-51X is a great deal at around $800 used. The Northstar 192 is also very good. I've had both in my system and could live happily with either of them. I only use the CEC TL-51X now because it is slaved to my Lessloss DAC.

Perhaps a 47 Labs Shigaraki would be an option as well.

You might want to consider an iMac (just rip your cd purchases to the drive ) and an iPhone. The latter provides a great wireless interface and the former is (IMHO) a very good transport. Total cost should be around $2K and you certainly get a lot of functionality (as well as performance) for your dollar.

Good Luck

Marty

It looks like folks have already tossed out some great options for possible transports in your intended budget.

Just one additional offering comes to mind for me.
The Tascam DV-RA1000 is a surprise contender for a unit that was intended to be a DSD mastering recorder. It's since been retired in favor of a 'HD' model with integrated hard disks. I'd give it the nod over a number of the Sony & Denon's unless you're open to modding them later. Out of the box via the AES/EBU input it bests some unlikely competition. Besides I trust you could find a new one extremely reasonably & save a modest portion of your budget for other upgrades. Some people appreciate the additional eye candy the recorder affords -- others perhaps not so much.

Cheers,
Bish

PS -- I agree with Mariusz that the Philips CD Pro 2 transport mechanism used in other products is nice -- granted many designers opt to modify the clamping mechanism in favor of something more exotic than the stock one. It's also nice that the replacement CD Pro 2 (now CD Pro2 LF -- lead free) are available. At least until people stop using jukeboxes in bars :-)