Economical CD Transport - Thoughts?

I have no experience with the Audiolab, but the Cambridge CXC is a solid performer for the money.  I have one - no complaints.  If you play your cards right, you can snag a refurbished unit directly from CA on eBay at a discount (for factory refurbished items).  How's that for economical? ;o)

I  have a CXC  silver front which I purchase a 1 1/2 years ago. I highly recommend the CXC over the Audiolab because I am not a fan of slotlloads. I wish to upgrade to Pro-ject top load which I couldn't afford at the time. I will be selling the CXC. 1 year 4 months left on warranty. Only difference is color of the front panel.

I have a CXC and am happy with it. Why a version 2 is necessary, I don't know.

I have had a few CXC's, using one now,  and always pleased. Cambridge sells factory refurb V2's regularly for $350 with warranty and free returns...the V1 and V2 are functionally identical, just different cosmetics...

I'm using an Emotiva ERC-4 as a transport.  It's a CDP with DAC but I bought an external DAC and it is built like a tank very solid

Computer. You probably already have one.

Get the Rega for a lower priced unit  otherwise the Pro-Ject Audio for a little more.

The V2 change is to cosmetically match their new integrateds with internal DAC 

Cambridge Audio was good when it worked. Never tried Audiolab.

Computer?  WTF?
Try automobiles. They are losing CDs just as fast.

I own an audiolab 6000cdt transport and really love it. I have it paired with a RME adi-2 dac fs and Hegel h120 amp. I also switch over to my Decware Zen Triode 2-watt tube amp. Every once in a while when I want to really change things up I'll hook up my fully restored 1970s marantz 2245 receiver. In all instances the audiolab 6000 sounds great, is extremely reliable, solid as a rock, & built like a tank. It's simply works and sounds great. It has excellent lineage and is a steal at about 600 bucks. It was the first piece I built my recent system around. What started this iteration of my ongoing journey was when my emotiva ERC which is also ridiculously overbuilt and then some, started to go from track one to track seven consistently. I made the mistake of taking the case off and essentially rendered the unit useless. When I called emotiva I really got the cold shoulder because my unit is now obsolete. They wouldn't even let me send it in to have them fix it citing no parts available. Really was a good unit but I was disappointed at the end. I'd say unless you want to go really exotic deep into four figures, the audiolab will serve you well. I've ripped my 2000+ CDs to flac and have them on a hard drive in a roon core, and as much as I enjoy that side of things, I really do take great pleasure in spinning silver discs on the audiolab. I have purchased no fewer than three Cambridge pieces of equipment over the past few years, and in as much as I don't have any major misgivings, It seems to have worked out that they have all been returned.

Has anyone here, other than a professional audio reviewer actually owned and compared a Cambridge Audio CXC with a Jay’s Audio CD transport? Bonus points for the latest version of the Jay’s CD transport. Thanks. 

I also own an Audiolab 6000CDT and paired it with small Pro-Ject dac.  Sounds good to me and the slot-loading mechanism has worked without fail.   I haven’t seen any scratches inflicted, which I think is the most-cited concern.  I haven’t heard a Cambridge CD transport, but I assume they are also good from what I read, with a drop-in drawer for the CD if you prefer.  I don’t think you can go wrong either way. 

I have an Astell Kerns 25 DAP with a 1TB microSD. I have my entire cd collection on that card with a bunch of HD downloads. Everything is backed up on a 1TB Samsung portable SSD drive. My old Denon cd player is officially retired. The CDs, hundreds of them, are now in storage. I will likely sell them off to raise monies for my next component upgrade, speakers or TT.

Also consider  the LEAK CDT, nearly identical inside to AUDIOLAB, but with USB input.
I had the CAMBRIDGE CXC: does not sound better than any cheap 20€ player and not reliable.
@for DAVIDRONLON: what exactly happened to your EMOTIVA player?
I  can not understand that it failed completely just by opening the cover.

Originally had an Oppo BDP-103 DVD/CD drive which was OK, but then got a CA dedicated transport and that was much better in clarity and definition.  Disclaimer: the CXC V1 I bought was used.  Had it for about 2 years until it started getting very picky about the discs it read (had to be pristine), made horrible grinding noises when loading after a delay, and eventually just stopped reading discs altogether.  Loved the sound when it worked, however.  Dumped it and had the 6000CDT for about a week or two - in spite of all of the rave reviews, there always seemed that something was missing to me in my system, so I sent it back and got a new CXC V2.  Currently not encountering any of the V1 issues that I had with the V2.  I see some people complaining about the 6000CDT slot drive scratching their discs but I never had any of that, and the display is nicer on it than the CXCs.  The CXCs also have a quirk that I'm told is not uncommon but it surprised me when I first got it: when playing a song, if you hit the double arrow back button it doesn't restart at the beginning of the song but at the beginning of the PREVIOUS song, which I thought was weird. BTW, neither will play SACD content, though if the disc has CD content it will play that.

Get a used Marantz hd cd-1. It is a great cd player, as well as a great transport. It has a small form factor 12 x 12 inches, and built like a tank. I love mine paired with a border patrol dac. 

Thanks for all the input thus far. Appreciate it!

+1 for the Marantz HD-CD1

I have an Audiolab 6000 CDT, road tested with CA CXC 11, found no differences, also tried Project transport very unimpressed. CDT works very well with my Denifrips Ares 2.

There are very attractive options to be sought out in the used item sales  as well.
The CD Transport I presently use and have owned for a few years has been bought as a used item and can't fault the method.  
I did hear the CDT Model in advance at a HiFi event and that experience sold the product, I just had to find the correct purchase price to meet my needs. 

No experience with the Cambridge, but when I was in the market I did my due research and went with the Audiolab. People who had used both preferred the Audiolab, and I liked the looks better. Got it used for $400, and I couldn't be happier. No problems with the slot loader, either. 

I believe the 2 transports that the OP mentioned, Cambridge and Audiolab, are the only available “new” transports at his price point.  Used options may be cheaper including a CD player repurposed as a transport, but may have too much wear and tear.  

"also tried Project transport very unimpressed. CDT works very well with my Denifrips Ares"

@henry53,
Pro-Ject offers 3 CD transports at different price points. Which model are you referring to? The model receiving near universal raves is their top tier CD BOX RS2 Transport..  This is the one @bigkidz is referencing above in this thread.
Charles

@deralte...the emotiva performed flawlessly for about 5 years. It really was a beast in terms of build quality, especially for a value-oriented brand whose products are actually made in China. In any event, as I mentioned in my last post, one fine day it started arbitrarily going from track one to track seven consistently. Didn't matter what disc was in there. Surprisingly there was little to no information on the web regarding this issue. So I foolishly decided to take a peek inside which involved taking a bunch of screws out of which a few of course dropped on the floor, and then attempting to remove the actual transport led to another series of ridiculous blunders which essentially went from bad to worse to a point where half the thing was apart and things just went completely sideways. Obviously I had no business monkeying around in there and after trying to just get it back together I ended up putting the whole thing in a box with the hope I could send it to emotiva and have them put it back together and fix whatever was wrong with it. Sadly it never got that far because they shut me down right off the bat citing no parts available. Word to the wise if you're ever buying emotiva...nice products at a really decent price but don't expect anything at all in the way of customer service once the warranty expires.

I purchased the Audiolab approx 2 years ago and very pleased with the product

Though have since found that I prefer the quality of hi-res streaming and play very few CDs these days

Here's a detailed review of the Audiolab with some direct comparisons Cambridge

https://theaudiophileman.com/6000cdt-cd-transport-from-audiolab/

There's a newer transport from Leak with a higher price point but on paper seems to measure better than the Audiolab or Cambridge

In the end I went with the Audiolab for what I thought was overall price for performance benefits and the play from memory feature appealed to me

There are used CDT's that can be considered, as the OP has only indicated two Models are of interest and the requirement as being economical it would seem the price point is close to the Models outlined.
With the request to make suggestions of other Models that might be worth considering, it invites a selection to be produced that might extend beyond the price of the outlined models.
This can easily be rebalanced if a used item of  a more expensive suggestion is to be purchased.
In relation to wear and tear is it being suggested that a owned and CDT with a few years usage should be expected imminently to become unreliable?
Are all CDT - CDP - DAC used in whatever configuration being confronted with the suggestion that they should be considered for replacement, as concern for their reliability and continuation of correct function are now of importance following a few years of usage, or is this situation only belonging to Models that are considered to be High Turnover Unit Consumer Models ?
My experience do date is that I have purchased a used CDT that is now approx' 5 Years Old from retail purchase and a Bespoke Design Built DAC that is much Older. 
The only concern I have had to date for either of these devices is the condition of batteries in the CDT remote control.
I would expect that at approx' $ 600-800, a CDT could be acquired that punches in performance way above the High Turnover Unit Consumer Models outlined, a very highly regarded CDT could be acquired.
It might mean a device is not immediately available off the shelf.
Such an acquisition is to be found, If sought out with the search being carefully undertaken and extends into a wider selection of the used HiFi Market.       

@gnoworyta
Do you have any interest in purchasing a used transport?

Nuprime CDT-8 Pro?

You'd want IS2 as that is the future of dacs.
A 60 Euro IS2 cable beats two AES/EBU at 1000-1500 Euro.