A phenomenal new CD transport-Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 transport

Gotta laugh at Audio Troy. If he was a MSB, Esoteric, Luxman, Gryphon dealer he would be telling you how wonderful all their Disc Spinners/Dac's are!!  Unfortunately he only carries MID-FI brands and is "selling his book" as usual.

  Not everybody wants/needs to have a Laptop connected to their audio system.  Most of your streaming services use Highly Compressed/Loudness War mixes from the 90's to present that they are supplied by the labels. Usually...not always...the ORIGINAL Digital Masters used to make the Compact Discs back in the 80's have the best fidelity by far.  Thats why the original pressings cost so much money to obtain now in many instances.  REMASTERED rarely means better for the past 30 years.  Just means Louder, Harder and Compressed.  Why spend 50-100K on an Audio System and then Feed it Sub Par Recordings?? 

Fred,
Dont believe everything you read (Server vs CD player). Might be true in some cases if your using low quality players like an Oppo/Cambridge etc Definitely is NOT True if you have something like an Esoteric/MSB/DCS/Luxman player/Dac at your disposal...and thats without the option of adding a Master Clock into the equation. (Cant add Clock to Luxman)

So why did you Re-Brand your name??? Too many bad reviews/complaints on the net??

Nope...your Servers dont sound better than any of the above players/Dacs/Clocks. Of course you wouldnt know that cause you dont have the client base to support those brands. T+A is a Wanna-Be...Their Disc Spinners/Dacs arent up there.
Keep selling those Metal Tweeters and giving your customers Tinnitus/Ear Bleeds down the road as a Freebie.

Might want to confer with some dealers that DO Carry those brands mentioned AND also Aurender and the other TOTL Streamers. They will tell you the EXACT same thing. They prefer Non-Remastered/Compressed PHYSICAL Media played on Quality Players over their streaming gear.

Ive been working with the Music Industry for over 35 years now. None of the Labels are giving Tidal/Quoboz Unique Hi-Res master recordings of music from the 60’s to 80’s. Your getting the COMPRESSED/REMASTERED Crap that they have been churning out for 30 years. Yea you can probably get Neil Young/Tom Petty/Tull etc versions that were done RECENTLY by the likes of Steve Wilson/Kevin Gray.....BUT 99% of whats available are INFERIOR versions supplied by the labels to what they were putting out back in the early days of digital recording when they actually gave a damn and were concerned about QUALITY and getting people to fall in line with the new technology. In order to get THOSE mixes you MUST buy the old physical media....or in your case maybe get the Files from somebody who ripped THOSE versions to their server.

BTW a I-Phone/Tablet IS a computer. Again...not everybody wants to deal with that. Some people that work all day on PC’s/Tablets dont want to come home and have to do the same thing. Put in a Disc and RELAX for 45 minutes.
Thanks for the list of MID-FI gear you carry. NAIM is the only one on the list I would consider and even they have that whole Power Supply scam thing going for them which is a turnoff to many...and unique cabling.

   Well like you said....you dont know BUT your certainly entitled to your opinion of me which doesnt matter to anybody but yourself. I will call BS if I see it. He might think he knows everything about audio equipment but when it comes to the actual music he obviously is completely clueless as to its origins in the studio/mixing/mastering area. Whats available NOW vs What was available before. He probably isnt even aware of the massive fire that destroyed thousands and thousands of the actual Master Recordings more than a decade ago in California. He thinks whats currently available in the streaming world is the ULTIMATE in sonic reproduction that has ever been. Thats a TOTAL Lie.

ESSRAND....Your aware that PS AUDIO no longer has a Dealer Network right?  So the chances of ANY dealer (former PS Audio Dealer or otherwise) telling somebody to buy one of their products over another is highly unlikely. Can you provide your dealer source??  For a Few thousand dollars more you can buy an Esoteric Spinner with a NON CHIP DAC that will smoke anything that PS Audio could ever produce.

Bit perfect copy of overly compressed/crappily remastered recordings that are currently in the record labels possession. NOT the music that was originally recorded back in the day by the master engineers/producers/mixers. We get it. Sad that you will never realize that the CD’s you purchased back in the 80’s are in most cases better digital recordings than what you are being offered on your streaming services. Do your homework. There is a reason the 1st pressings (Or the best pressings) can go for Hundreds of Dollars each....Just like Reel to Reel tapes do.
I will also wager any Esoteric you claim to have used was one with a DAC CHIP and no master clock hooked up to it.
Do us all a favor so you can stop embarrassing yourself. Go buy something like the recent Doobie Brothers Quad Box Set, or a Tull Steven Wilson mix....play those Discs on some Mid-Fi OPPO Spinner or comparable low end universal spinner.  Those mixes from the ORIGINAL Master Tapes will sound better than whatever files you have on your preferred music server.  I realize this will take you away from your nightly Barry Manilow listening session so I apologize in advance for infringing on your time.  Copacabana will still be there for you tomorrow....albeit a crappy recorded version of it where your missing instruments from the original recording cause they have been compressed out on the recording thats available to you on Tidal/Quobuz

Essrand,
Since when does NAGRA make CD Players/DAC combo?? Thats what we are talking about. Stay on Topic

Not to mention in another thread he said he compared a 10 Year Old Model Esoteric K-01 to his current streaming service. His "Store" I am told is his dining room in his house LOL   He's been busy the past couple of days reviving DEAD threads of T+A Gear to try to drum up business. Mortgage Banker must be knocking on the door  :)  How pathetic

For the uninformed Esoteric stopped using DAC Chips 1-2 years ago. Makes no sense comparing an older line (X or XS) of their Spinners/Dacs to their newer players. Ive had both...dont sound similar at all. Use to be voiced more aggressively. Now its more analog-like.

Why bother with places like those that offer ZERO discount?? Buying from a Mom and Pop dealer can get you up to 20% off.   If you need to buy "on time" then I can see the benefit to buying from Musicdirect etc BUT if you have the coin on hand thats an incredibly bad decision.  

 I already have my contacts for dozens of brands. Everybody should if they've been in this hobby for awhile and have made lots of purchases. Ive always been willing to steer people in the right direction if it can save them some coin. No skin in the game for me. If people can reciprocate down the road and hook me up with a brand that I dont have contacts for GREAT. If not its fine.  Only an Idiot would PUBLISH his sources on a forum. Business savvy just isnt some people's strong suit. Probably why they cant get good deals to begin with.

Why would anybody buy from Music Direct for Full MSRP?? The reason NOT to buy from them...or anybody like them...is you arent getting a discount and you arent building a personal relationship that will save you LOTS of dough down the road.  Find dealers that will give you at least 15% off (I never take less than 20%). Music Direct/Crutchfield etc your just a statistic. Some guys have no business acumen at all.

Ridiculous. What brands are you referring to?? Only brands that you cant get a discount for or not much of one is a Ultra Boutique brand that only has 1 Distributor and single digit dealers.  All the names that everybody knows there is almost always a 40% Markup and 50-60% on Demo Gear. Plenty of room to get a good deal without much effort. Once you establish yourself as a solid customer (repeat business) you will start getting calls FROM the dealers asking you if you want X Product for a good price. Then there's always the brands that "purge" their old stock to dealers for a ridiculous price and you can steal stuff that is brand new for 50% off MSRP.  Obviously you arent getting those calls so you have no idea what Im talking about.