Transport - will it really make an improvement

The transport IS very important and WILL make a difference!

I've tried many transports and the BEST sounding to me is the Philips 12 pro. It is used in many high end units and if suspended on a good rubber suspension as used in all the top loading units can sound superb. The main areas of improvement will be : better bass, smoother more open midrange, and highs that extended without any edge.

Many will insist that a newer DVD player used as a transport will equal a good redbook cd transport, don't believe it. The laser and servo systems in a redbook cd transport are optimised to recover the redbook cd spec data. Also, there are no high quality dvd transports that are as good as the Philips 12 pro and therfore ANYTHING that also plays/reads DVD is a compromise!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree that the transport is at least if not much more important than the DAC. If I have a customer wanting to spend $5000 as an example for a digital system I find in most cases the customer will think of $1000 on a transport and $4000 for the DAC. We have found much more significant improvements in spending maybe $3000 for the transport and $2000 for the DAC. As an example, we have gotten better results here using a $3000 transport with a $1800 DAC than with using a $1000 transport with even a $8000 DAC.

JC Ausio what $5000 dollar combination were you referring too?

I don't have the luxury of being able to audition lots of gear before purchase, so I must rely to a great extent on magazine/ezine reviews. TAS has been a good source for many years, and although HP is highly opinionated, I trust his words more than those of many others, (especially some in Stereophile).

So--when the time came for me to buy a transport to accompany my new Chord DAC64, I remembered HP's praise of the Burmesters, with their belt-drives, and got as close as possible (read: without going absolutely crazy with the checkbook) to those very expensive units ($30K for a transport is a bit much, in my estimation!): I bought a CEC TL-1X and I am very happy with it in combination with the Chord.

I can't truly attest to a "magical" effect of the belt-drive feature, but using the CEC is a very satisfying experience (read: Ritual!), akin to the involvement required to spin a long-playing record. I've been involved with analog for 55 years now, and, at my age, "ritual" has become greatly important to me.

On a more realistic plane, it would seem that the elimination, or, failing that, the reduction, of relative movement (other than rotation, of course!) between the disc and the laser pickup is to be desired. The theory then is that the belt provides isolation from the drive motor. Again, I can't attest to the effectiveness of the arrangement. I can only say that the combination of CEC and Chord has provided me with CD sound I can enjoy; my previous Wadia 830 did not. Prior to these recent purchases, I was on the verge of reverting exclusively to analog.

To address the original question, however, I do feel (FWIW!) that of the two components (transport and converter), the converter is of more importance.

BTW--my system comprises:

CEC/BEL(interconnect)/Chord/Transparent(interconnect)/ARC (preamp)/Synergistic Research/Brystons(pair of bridged 4BSTs)/XLO cables/SoundLab A-3s.

Jim

I don't have the luxury of being able to audition lots of gear before purchase, so I must rely to a great extent on magazine/ezine reviews. TAS has been a good source for many years, and although HP is highly opinionated, I trust his words more than those of many others, (especially some in Stereophile).

So--when the time came for me to buy a transport to accompany my new Chord DAC64, I remembered HP's praise of the Burmesters, with their belt-drives, and got as close as possible (read: without going absolutely crazy with the checkbook) to those very expensive units ($30K for a transport is a bit much, in my estimation!): I bought a CEC TL-1X and I am very happy with it in combination with the Chord.

I can't truly attest to a "magical" effect of the belt-drive feature, but using the CEC is a very satisfying experience (read: Ritual!), akin to the involvement required to spin a long-playing record. I've been involved with analog for 55 years now, and, at my age, "ritual" has become greatly important to me.

On a more realistic plane, it would seem that the elimination, or, failing that, the reduction, of relative movement (other than rotation, of course!) between the disc and the laser pickup is to be desired. The theory then is that the belt provides isolation from the drive motor. Again, I can't attest to the effectiveness of the arrangement. I can only say that the combination of CEC and Chord has provided me with CD sound I can enjoy; my previous Wadia 830 did not. Prior to these recent purchases, I was on the verge of reverting exclusively to analog.

To address the original question, however, I do feel (FWIW!) that of the two components (transport and converter), the converter is of more importance.

BTW--my system comprises:

CEC/BEL(interconnect)/Chord/Transparent(interconnect)/ARC (preamp)/Synergistic Research/Brystons(pair of bridged 4BSTs)/XLO cables/SoundLab A-3s.

Jim