Probably not the advice you want, but when my Wadia transport croaked I tried computer audio to DAC over USB, and would never buy another transport. To me, transports and physical CD's are yesterday's news and online/hi-res/ripping/downloads/streaming is the future, and USB is the (gasp) superior connection. In my system, all things markedly improved when I dumped the transport. YMMV.
CD Transport advices
Greetings,
It' s been a long time since my last post here. After years pleased w/ the same system, last year, I started a complete upgrade, and as you will see, I do need some help from my Audiogon's expert fellows.
My current system consists of:
-Dali Epicon 6 - speakers (new - 6 weeks)
-McIntosh MC 452 - amp (new - 7 months)
-McIntosh D100 - pre/DAC (new - 9 months)
-Oppo 103D - transport (new - 9 months)
-Audio Aero Prima MKIII - transport - (old - 7 years) - broken last week...
-Cables: KS 1130 (interconnects), KS 3035 (speakers - arriving next week- I can't wait!), some Fusion Audio and one KS PK 10 Palladian (power cords), Transparent Digital Premium (coaxial).
-in the near future - Aurender server/streamer - model yet to decide.
My new speakers arrived six weeks ago. The differences to my old (and adored!) Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1, were huge w/ the Dali right out of the box, and are becoming more and more evident as the Epicons are running-in (they barely played 60h). I' m still astonished with what I can hear w/ the Epicons 6 in my room! The problem is that the Prima stop reading CDs in the middle of these huge changes and I got completely lost. I fed my oppo w/ the same cables that were feeding the Prima and could not hear (or better saying, remember) much differences between them, but: would I notice, in a A/B comparison? I mean, do you think the old Audio Aero Prima is, in fact, a better transport then the new Oppo 103? Do you think they should play equal when connected to the D100 DAC?! Or, maybe, the Oppo could do a better job, since it is a new project?
Is a CD transport, so crucial to the McIntosh D100 performance? What do I do?
-stay w/ the oppo and forget about CD transport?
-try to fix the Prima, if it should be a better transport then the Oppo?
-or forget both, and buy something else, more compatible w/ the rest of the system? What suggestions then?
Despite the fact that I will probably buy an Aurender server in the near future, I have about 700-800 CDs, some of them really audiophiles, and I wanted to play them in the old fashioned way, and in a level compatible w/ my new system.
As you see, I'm completely lost here, and any tips will be of great help. Sorry for the bad english, and for the long post.
Best regards.
It' s been a long time since my last post here. After years pleased w/ the same system, last year, I started a complete upgrade, and as you will see, I do need some help from my Audiogon's expert fellows.
My current system consists of:
-Dali Epicon 6 - speakers (new - 6 weeks)
-McIntosh MC 452 - amp (new - 7 months)
-McIntosh D100 - pre/DAC (new - 9 months)
-Oppo 103D - transport (new - 9 months)
-Audio Aero Prima MKIII - transport - (old - 7 years) - broken last week...
-Cables: KS 1130 (interconnects), KS 3035 (speakers - arriving next week- I can't wait!), some Fusion Audio and one KS PK 10 Palladian (power cords), Transparent Digital Premium (coaxial).
-in the near future - Aurender server/streamer - model yet to decide.
My new speakers arrived six weeks ago. The differences to my old (and adored!) Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1, were huge w/ the Dali right out of the box, and are becoming more and more evident as the Epicons are running-in (they barely played 60h). I' m still astonished with what I can hear w/ the Epicons 6 in my room! The problem is that the Prima stop reading CDs in the middle of these huge changes and I got completely lost. I fed my oppo w/ the same cables that were feeding the Prima and could not hear (or better saying, remember) much differences between them, but: would I notice, in a A/B comparison? I mean, do you think the old Audio Aero Prima is, in fact, a better transport then the new Oppo 103? Do you think they should play equal when connected to the D100 DAC?! Or, maybe, the Oppo could do a better job, since it is a new project?
Is a CD transport, so crucial to the McIntosh D100 performance? What do I do?
-stay w/ the oppo and forget about CD transport?
-try to fix the Prima, if it should be a better transport then the Oppo?
-or forget both, and buy something else, more compatible w/ the rest of the system? What suggestions then?
Despite the fact that I will probably buy an Aurender server in the near future, I have about 700-800 CDs, some of them really audiophiles, and I wanted to play them in the old fashioned way, and in a level compatible w/ my new system.
As you see, I'm completely lost here, and any tips will be of great help. Sorry for the bad english, and for the long post.
Best regards.
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