Looking for comparisons between CD transports


I'm still a disc-spinner, having a pretty large collection of CDs across a range of genres, though mostly classical. About 2 years ago I bought an Audiolab CDT6000 and lived with it for about a month before deciding it wasn't my cup of tea and selling it off. While its clarity and soundstage were impressive, there wasn't sufficient heft to the music, and it seemed to favor the music's component parts rather than portraying a cohesive whole. 

I'm considering the Audiolab 9000, the Schiit Urd, and possibly the Primare DD15. That's the budget range I'm comfortable with. (Despite the glowing reviews, Jay's Audio is kind of out or range for me at this point).  I'd be grateful to hear opinions on how these transports stack up against each other from those of you who have heard one or more of them. It will be running through a Sonnet Morpheus DAC, if that info is helpful. Thanks!

 

 

cooper52

You want a CD Transport or CD Player?

I went thru 9 players, got recommendations here, did a lot of research, chose and found a lightly used Sony xa5400 es SACD player

this seller says only 330 hrs laser use.

Sony xa5400es, listed 7 days ago

believe it or not, that is a good price for one of these with little use. Lasers do get weak when heavily used.

Sony xa5400 es yay or nay

sacd dsd out?

$600 usd, ask about laser life if known

OP don’t buy used transport or cd player , At all cost buy new one. According to my friend it’s a big risk buying digital components. I wished I listened to Him.

I’m definitely looking for a transport, not a player. I have a Cambridge Audio CXU (their long discontinued universal disc player) which does an okay job as a CD player/transport and and reads SACDs (though in my system it converts to PCM because it can only output DSD through HDMI and my DAC doesn't have that option--very few do) but is best for DVDs and Blu-ray discs. I think the right dedicated transport will offer distinctly better performance for standard redbook CDs.