Old Philips CD as transport or new playe

Seldener & Slingshot: I use the Icon MKII as a transport with the Bel Canto DAC and it sounds great. Out of curiosity I tried a friends new/used Meridian 506.24 player as a transport and could just detect a little more definition in the bass and mid bass, but it was very slight indeed and really could not hear a difference in the mids and highs. I have also been tempted by the Theta transports, which are said to wonderfull, but have decided to wait and see if SACD takes off. If it does I will trade the CAL for an SACD player and use the BC to improve its standard CD playack. If SACD flunks out then I will probably end up trying one of the Theta's. The addition of a good DAC (one that I enjoy the sound of) though has been one of the best upgrades that I have done. Regardless of which amp I use in the system (I switch between SS and tubes) it always sounds great.

Terrific help you guys! Question, do your replies mean that the improvements made to CD playback in general over the last few years don't apply quite as much to transports? I.e., do you think a 10 year old transport is still technically sufficient to convey a good-enough quality signal to a new DAC to justify buying a new the DAC for the old transport?

Hope that made sense! Your replies give me great comfort.

Seldenr, like you, I've been pondering these things. I like the idea and simplicity of a one box design, but have been intrigued with the spate of glowing reviews for inexpensive (relatively) dacs. I listened to Arcam 9 and Conrad Johnson DF-2. Not enough improvement over my Cambridge CD4se to warrant the expense. I've been listening to a new Assemblage 2.7 Signature dac driven by the Cambridge for a couple of days now (using bnc/bnc cable.) I honestly believe that you'd never find a new cd player for $948 (Assemblage price) that sounds this refined and musical. Excellent value for dollars spent. I figure that I can upgrade to a good used transport if the Cambridge expires and still spend less than a new quality one box player. You'd probably find a similar situation with your player, but a 10 year old unit could go at any time. As to the format quandry Dekay mentions, who knows how this will settle out? I've got hundreds and hundreds of cd's I love and have no intention of replacing in sacd even if the titles become available. I just decided to quit worrying about that issue and buy something that will let me enjoy what's available now.