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A good cd transport for my Chord HugoTT2 DAC with Chord M-Scaler

I recently acquired a Luxman L-595A integrated amp and moved my trusty L-509u to my second system along with my Simaudio Moon 260d cd transport.  I need a new cd transport (or player used as a transport) to go with my Chord Hugo TT2 DAC and Chord M-Scaler.

I was considering the PS Audio SACD transport, but most of my CDs are Red Book  and I own a very small number of SACDs.  

I love the build quality of Luxman products.  Would it be crazy to use a Luxman D-03x CDP as a transport?  It is about 2/3 of the price of the PS Audio SACD transport.

toronto416
antmou
8 posts
 

Did you finally find what you are looking for.

Exact same situation here, moon 260d feeding a hugo mscaler and tt2.

I realized that the 260d is good but maybe is a bottleneck in my system. Absolutely no differences on the same songs switching from the 260d to an Aurender n150 streamer, so very strange….always thought a transport would be better than a stream. So 260d bottleneck ?

did you finally compare something to the 260d and what did you find out ?

toronto416 OP
230 posts
 

The 260d + M Scaler + TT2 are now in a second system and sound fantastic.  I think that the 260d is a very capable transport.

For my main system I bought the Luxman D-10x CDP.  It was very expensive but it sounds sublime as a CDP and is built like a tank.  I am sure it will serve me well for many years as I still listen cds as opposed to streaming.

I may try an ifi Zen streamer into either the D-10x as a DAC or the M scaler/tt2 in my other system.

soix
9,549 posts
 

If you get a Zen Stream I highly recommend not using Wi-Fi (at the very least use a Wi-Fi extender or Mesh and run an Ethernet cable from that to the Zen) and getting an upgraded power supply. 

toronto416 OP
230 posts
 

Thanks for the advice! I have a Tidal subscription but use it mostly in my car via Apple CarPlay - so I guess that is streaming from iPhone to the car’s audio system via Bluetooth - not the most audiophile approach, but hey, it’s a car...

I have tried streaming Tidal from my MacBook or iPhone into my Chord DAC, but it is not as good as cds. The missing link is something like a Zen streamer - or ’network bridge’.

soix
9,549 posts
 

I have tried streaming Tidal from my MacBook or iPhone into my Chord DAC, but it is not as good as cds. The missing link is something like a Zen streamer

Yeah, I totally get what you’re saying.  I started streaming with my iPhone and upgraded USB dongle from LavriCables to my DAC with Qobuz and was very disappointed that CDs sounded markedly better.  Then I added the Zen Stream (with their iPowerX power supply) and BAM — streaming was instantly as good or better than CDs and I was happy happy (sorry for the multiple Emeril references).  Just my experience FWIW.  

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