Advice on CD transport

I have been happy with my Cambridge CXC into an Audio Note 4.1 DAC. I believe Cambridge occasionally offers refurbished CXCs on EBay, with factory warranty, for near half price. Quality transport at a great price.

The Audiolab 6000CDT worked great for me too. Paired with the PS Audio Stellar Strata.

I have several Marantz players which work well as a CD transport.

I recently picked up a used Rega Apollo R and a Woo Audio WTP-1.

The Woo Audio is my first choice as it is a bit more definition than the Marantz
The Rega comes in last due to it being a bit light in the bass

You can get the Rega or the Woo used for around 600

I use the Cambridge CXC. It’s okay. It’s pretty picky. There are various very standard CDs that somehow don’t quite meet red book (I assume that’s the issue) that won’t play on the Cambridge. I think one is Booker Ervin’s The Freedom Book, which is on the Prestige label. It plays on other CD players, including my old car CD player. There are others.

The display is terrible. Totally invisible from the distance at which you’d sit with a remote. And the remote is huge, with only a tiny portion of the buttons working on this unit. The others must be for components I don’t have.

Does the job though, usually.

Bel Canto CDT3 is a transport only.  I  don’t have anything to compare it to but it seems very good and is very basic in operation.  I like the slot loader also.  Might find a used one for around a $1k

My first CD transport is a Theta which broke and went to several other transports.  I like my current one which I've had for over five years.  It is a Raysonic tubed transport which I chose for its top loading features.  It's been working very well for me with my Benchmark DAC.

Imthorek

A Cambridge Audio CXC CD Transport, used, is on sale on Audiogon for $450
Well reviewed

I have been using a Denon CD player and have been unsatisfied but recently I bought an Audiolab 6000CDT which I play through my Audiolab 6000 integrated amp.  Sound is fantastic and the lack of any noise is wonderful as well. For under $600 the Audiolab cannot be beat.

I have a related question.  I am using my EAR Acute as a transport for my COS Engineering DV2 DAC.   Does replacing the EAR with a standalone transport improve my sound?   If so, what transport would significantly make an improvement?  A Luxman, Marantz or Esoteric transport?  Something less expensive or a high end used unit?   I have not experimented with transports as until this year, I always had a player.  Thanks.

Going the Transport Only Route, even with some of the attractive knock down prices available, when considering a used item as a Purchase,
will limit you to the Option of the Built in DAC in the Amp.
Can you find a Standalone Transport used with the Amp’s built in DAC to meet your expectations for a Replay of a Hard Media that you feel assured will meet your expectations of a 'CD Player’ ?

For your Budget to find a Standalone CDT and DAC that will deliver to meet your expectations I feel can be done but will take a time consuming investigation and much luck with finding selected devices at a Purchase Value that will match your Budget Allocation.

For a CDP Only option your choices become quite varied and of many options.
As there are numerous Brands, from different Era’s of Manufacture that can be considered, coupled with different Decoders, DAC Chip Sets and Differing Qualities of Transports.
In the used Market Transport reliability and available replacements and servicing options are often included in the Tick Box for the Purchasing Options.
The Buyer has to express Caveat Emptor when going into this World, and carrying out reliability investigations on any chosen device will be very prudent, and learning of the ease of overcoming anything unforeseen will  be time well spent.

It would be a great experience for yourself,
if a attempt was put in place and came to fruition, to loan CDP’s from a Shortlist and trial them in your system.
This will help to give to you a sample of the delivery of a Particular Design and help narrow down the Type of CDP that will offer to you a Playback that will be to your taste, the inbuilt DAC might even offer a surprise as to how it impresses.

I agree with the few who recommended the Audiolab 6000CDT. I have one and love it!

Before buying, I’ve listened to Cambridge Audio CXC, Cyrus, CEC and a few other players/CDT (can’t remember the brands) The Audiolab came out top for it’s price. It has more dynamics, clearer and more bite in the music (same amp, same DAC and same speakers).
The next better transport upwards is the Cyrus XT signature transport, anything in between are not as good as the Audiolab. If you can stretch the dollar, Cyrus is a better transport in terms of sound quality and details. But I’m not sure about it’s reliability and durability though.

Audiolab 6000CDT is really best value for money.
Happy shopping! :-)

Will the Cyrus read 80+ minute CDs such as the many made by Decca classical CDs?   A review said  if your platters are not in top condition, or formatted to the precise Red Book CD spec, it may struggle to read them.

I have owned the Theta, tried out the Cambridge and now own the Cyrus CD t transport. The Cambridge has accessibility problems.  Can’t go directly to the track you want.  It was noisy with my Gumby and didn’t sound nearly as good as the Cyrus.  I know there have been complaints about Cyrus reliability, but I’ve had mine for three years with extensive use and no problems,

Maybe slightly off topic. Is there a really good transport (excluding PSA), that will read CD and SACD discs that I can send the data to a DSD capable DAC via USB or Coax?

georgehifi
PM sent.  Happy Listening!

georgehifi
Thank You for the follow up.  Happy Listening!

Hi cjlundberg

I realize your budget is $1000.00. All I can tell you is I never realized how important a transport can be with regard to sound quality. It can make an enormous difference. 

I, like you, thought I’ll use a really good CD player with a digital output into a good dac. I did that for about one year and enjoyed it very much. The CD player I was using was the Yamaha CDS2100 which is a very nice cd/sacd player which uses Yamahas own proprietary transport that’s designed and made in house. It’s metal, not plastic and silent and incredibly smooth when opened. The retail on that player is $3500.00. By the way, it uses Yamahas best transport, the same one they use in their $7000.00 flagship player. 

A friend told me about a Chinese made dedicated transport that was very reasonably priced that sounded amazing. I went to his house to listen to his system (which I am very familiar with) and it sounded much better than I remembered. I asked him why, he told me the only thing he changed since I was there last time was the transport. He’s was using his CD player (an Audio Research CD 8) the last time I had heard his system. He added this transport and told me that I had to come hear this thing. He was also using a good digital cable. I was shocked at the improvement. So much so I asked him if he would be willing to bring it over to my house and let me try it in my system. He did bring it over and I plugged it into the digital input on the Yamaha CD player. My jaw hit the floor. The disadvantage is no sacd, just redbook only. Not the end of the world. I have about 200 sacd’s and about 4000 redbook cd’s. 

The improvement in in sound quality was so much better it quickly made me not care about my sacd’s. 

The name of of the company who builds this transport is called Jays Audio. The model is a CDT2 MKII. They only make 3 products. A CD player, a dac & a transport, that’s it. The build quality on this transport is really good and it looks nice as well but the sound quality is what blew me away, I never would have thought a transport could make such a difference. It absolutely blew away that Yamaha transport. The retail for this transport is $2398.00. In my opinion, worth every penny. Hope that helps.

Scot

Sony SCD-1ES or the little brother Sony SCD-777ES if you are lucky. They are climbing in value so grab them while you can and purchase an extra CD lens for backup. 

@scothurwitz Thanks for the information on Jays Audio CDT2 MKII. I am looking for a near SOTA transport that will improve on the already good sound I am getting using the EAR Acute as a transport, but for a reasonable price. I doubt that a $1,000 transport would be better. This is one heavy transport for under $3,000, 15 kg. Does it track burned discs and discs exceeding 80 minutes?   Cyrus XT signature transport is about the same price but reportedly is critical of CD quality(?).  Reviews of Cyrus are not specific.

Hi fleschler

I’ve never had a problem tracking any disc whether it was store bought or burned by friends. 

The Jays audio transport really surprised me. The design is obviously well thought out. The parts quality and the build quality are great. Normally, I’m not a big fan of anything built in China, but this unit is a very different story. It made me realize that it is possible to find very well made products even though it comes from China. 

The owner of the company has designed a great product and really understands what makes a dedicated transport sound good. He believes that there is a lot of musicality to be extracted from red book cd’s still. When a disc can be read properly it can still be a great sounding format. When connected to a good dac with a good digital cable I find it to be incredibly musical. The fact that it’s made in China with their more affordable labor rates allows him to offer a excellent product at a very reasonable price point. If you ever get a chance to hear one, don’t pass up the opportunity. 

A friend of mine told me about it and when he told me it sounded better than two other transports he owned, both being more expensive than the Jays Audio, that’s when I became very interested. I know his taste and he’s recommended other products to me in the past and has always been right so I know I can trust his ear. He was spot on with this one. I couldn’t be happier. Take care.

Scot

@scothurwitz I will be using it in conjunction with the COS Engineering DV2v, the same as in one reviewer's system.  Apparently, a great match using SPDIF connection per video review https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Jays+Audio+CDT2+MKII+review&docid=608024050674043069&mi....  
I too am leery of purchasing Chinese audio gear; however, I have heard some copycat equipment that sounded just like the originals.  I wonder if the Jay's Audio was designed offshore in a different country which is common and just assembled in China.  Yes, this transport looks like a fabulous buy.

I just ordered the Cyrus XT transport used (claimed in excellent condition) from an evidently reliable English retailer for a ridiculously low price ($630 including shipping.) I know there are reports of dubious reliability about Cyrus, but I’ve had their CD t transport for three years without a problem.
For this price I’m willing to take a chance on a high level product.

Well, Mea Culpa.
I thought it was too good to be true.
It turns out the transport I thought I was buying was the Cyrus XT signature.
Instead it is the CD XT model.  Quite different.
Cancelled the order.

cjlundberg OP
Didn’t realize that mid/hi fi companies were making standalone transports in line with an average man’s salary.

Yep, but try to see if you can find an spdif output wave form oscilloscope shot of it, should look nice and square like this one of the Cambridge CXC I had.
https://ibb.co/c6zT5Qk
Don’t worry about the ghosting that’s just my Tek scope not being on auto trigger sync.

Cheers George