The two players I currently use as CD Transports are REALLY not bad as CD Players either...
(1) Sony BDP-S2000ES
A true ES unit, no SACD, coax opt. digital outputs Great transport AND standalone CD player, Slow loading gen 1.5 Blu Ray player, but worth the wait.
(2) Harman Kardon CD-990
Coax/opt outs, also RCA / XLR analog outputs w twin internal AKM dacs. Suggest sound deadening of (under) top cover with Dyna-mat or Kilmat. Refined rendition of the classic HK sound signature (as a transport) after mod. Also capable of being used as a DAC (has digital inputs).
I won’t say these are giant killers, but they ARE a bit surprising as CD transports.
They have replaced an OPPO UDP-203 AND a Sony UBP-X1000ES used as transports in my rack; into a Schiit Gungnir Multibit A2 DAC.
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Recently added a Sony SCD-XA5400 player to these (large rack). Now using native DACs (analog outs) of the HD 990 to clear both coax digital inputs for the Sonys.
The HK player with it's dual dac's has an excellent analog output btw, and also has
digital inputs so it can be used as a standalone dac.
Through the Gungnir into a Freya+ in tube mode the 2 Sonys are surprisingly close (and excellent) sounding to each other. Next step will be a Gungnir 2 DAC. Should be interesting!
