If you still spin CD's their is a reference level Transport for reasonable money

Hey Guys,

All my listening notes are now complete for my review on the CDT-2 MK-2 transport.  If you want a Red Book CD transport that, does not upsample the bit stream, to deliver an analog type liquidity (very much like a CEC belt drive transport) with powerful overall dynamics and excellent air and 3D imaging, along with very high quality construction and a beautiful appearance this is your next purchase if you still spin disks as I do.  It is hard to believe a piece of hardware this good can be sold for around 2K on today's market. 

Hi TJ,

I am sorry I missed your gracious response to my post. Would you be so kind as to send me the contact info again? 
Thank you
Terry

David 10 , Rockna offer two dacs , the Signature model and the Wavedream edition , I purchased the Wavedream edition single ended . The Signature model retails for about 5 grand more for the single ended and 10 grand more for the balanced model .

Audiolabyrinth I use to have the PS Audio Direct stream dac senior and memory player which I purchased brand new last year and by accident I found better performance for thousands less .

I looked at the Jas audio offerings, but they lack toslink

Hey audiolabyrinth,

I totally agree that you can speculate on which transport would sound better.  However, I have heard the latest generation of the PS Audio DS transport and I prefer what the Jay's Audio CDT-2 MK-2 does in my system with my DAC.

Your second statement is the old agreement between listeners who want for example a line-stage that is a "straight wire with a gain" not to "color" the sound vs a listener who wants the tonality/timbres and spatial qualities that a tube based line-stage provides to the music.  I use the term liquidity to mean a lack of grain or dryness without becoming euphonic at the expense of punch/macro-dynamics or details.  The Jay's Audio transport offers more of this then the PS Audio for my tastes on straight Red book sampling rate.  

Here's the most important question for you: Have you actually heard both transports?  If not you are welcomed to your speculation.  However, that's all it is, not a factually based conclusion based on personal experience.  I find it fascinating when people post that have never actually heard the piece being discussed or "know" that one piece of gear is better then the other, even though they never have heard the piece of gear to make the comparison. 

Hi teajay, The ps audio transport you reviewed is old,  The new ps audio direct stream memory player transport in my opinion will out perform the jay's audio transport hugely,  it's not even in the same league,  btw, liquidity is a coloration,  a live acoustic piano recital does not sound liquidity,  why should a system? 

Hey audiorevelation,

I actually reviewed the Woo transport a few years back and it was quite good for the money.  However, based on build quality and more importantly sonic performance it comes no were close as being in the same league as the Jay's Audio transport. 

Check out the Woo Transport at, I believe, $1,200. I'd be quite surprised if anyone could hear  improvement over that. 

I thought there were at least two levels of each DAC, maybe three, with the SE being the top model. Has that changed? (I don't mean SE vs Balanced)

David there are two models of the Rockna dac ,one is single ended and the 2nd model is fully balanced at more dollars , I purchased the single ended model. I bought the Rockna totally blind like I did with the fabulous Denafrips Terminator ,

My better half brought the hammer down over some of these purchases .I’d shutter to think how she would react if I was to order the Rockna net player , it’s pricy .

@in_shore   Which level of Rockna DAC do you have? Can you share your impressions in greater detail here or via PM to me? Also, have you had a chance to try out or listen to their Net Player paired with the DAC? Thanks.

Mike yep Rockna on these shores the owners are few however I read about the Rockna back in 2016 and the name and commments just stuck in my head .
Bob Neill has been very helpful when things went stale 
and boring with my system last year,  he’s a great guy and I was delighted to see he now carries Rockna. I purchased the single ended model .

Correction, Marc's number is: 404-585-1102

jafant - not sure what customer care you've experienced, was your representative / service through an authorized Meridian representative?
In 20 + years of owning Meridian gear and 4 service occasions we've had first rate / world class care and service experiences.
Ironically, we're currently sending in our 800 series equipment for service and have received exceptional care from Marc Koval (out of Douglasville, GA, 404-585-102). Marc is Meridian's authorized USA service center and we couldn't be happier with the professional service, care and guidance he providing. 

@nonoise, you are correct .. The Rockna wavenet server which is pretty killer sounding sounded no better than the Jays when playing the first track of side 2 Pink Floyd The Wall via USB with Jays using SPDIF. The piece I was playing on the server was being played from my desktop hard drive as the core, so it was across the network with no special ethernet anything. Tonight I'll turn the screws a little tighter and go i2s and use the onboard SSD as source. Lets see what happens.. Yes for certain it is a killer transport I would totally love to keep it but thats just not a smart use of my capital right now. Ive got a CODA Integrated coming in to compare with Kinki, I bought it as a backup, then Ive ordered a custom 4 way discreet differential crossover and on and on.. lol Cheers !
@in_shore its always interesting to me how people find out about them. Ask Bob out of all the 500 power cables hes tried which one is his favorite.. Did you go Sig Balanced .. or ?  yes, feel free to call anytime..

Hi Everyone - I'm shocked no one mentioned a Meridian 800 transport, especially with a linear power supply.
We have a moderately high end system and I've yet to hear anything that comes close to this transport. The latest, discontinued Oppo can't compete.
Hope I'm not creating a controversy with this post - happy listening :-)

Mike watched more of your videos, good work and great looking system !
Well I ordered the Rockna se through a dealer here in Canada and  first heard about Rockna while browsing a Romanian audio review site. Mike i look forward speaking with you.

Hey Mike,
If you say the Jay's Audio CDT-2 Mk II sounds no better than your music server, that's quite the compliment. Conversely, can it be said that your music server sounds no better than the transport? If so, for those of us who stubbornly insist on spinning those shiny silver discs, this sound like it'd be the way to go. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Looks like a great transport, but I didnt see any info on what it can transport .... 
CD only? SACD? DVD-A? HDCD? 

@char1  I'm not sure about RMAF, honestly Ive taken it as far as I can by being the "cable guy" along for the ride.In order for me to be most effective I would /will have to prove it by doing the dog and pony and I'm not so sure that is time well spent. I believe there are other ways to reach the listeners, they can prove it to themselves in thier own rig which is best anyways. Recently I have been taking listeners that feel sort of stuck without getting the "youre there" magic, and going through their rig piece by piece to bring it around. Crazy as it sounds I feel I have actually "saved" rigs from being sold. The hard part is finding the willing. Almost all of us want to read about it and then do it ourselves to feel that accomplishment. The thing is, not everyone has heard what world class level sounds like or even how to get there so tuning for it is impossible. I have been enjoying working with clients on a wholistic level whereby we sort the rig, room and all. But for those that understand cables make or break the rig, its still totally entertaining for me to listen to them try to describe what they are hearing now. I know exaclty what they mean, but the things they come up with are so funny.. I love it.. They are all worked up and excited because they call me 10 minutes in, so last night it was "its like, like...umm. like Superman came into the system and is flying around.."  earlier a guy was speaking about a rig being so tubey that you could have ladled the sound like gravy.. Too much fun this crazy hobby. So I will probably not be at RMAF, I'll probably switch to the overseas shows as I'm just not feeling the ROI from American shows so much lately.At the very least the travel alone brings ROI for overseas shows. Feel free to call me anytime Charlie. My hours are 10 to 10,  7 days a week. Cheers !
@in_shore How did you hear about Rockna originally? not many people know of it. Which model did you get ?  I may be able to share what I learned about it as its a hotrod piece. My current reference.. Also, feel free to contact me at Verastarr it just might be worth your while to try a Grand Illusion to feed it power. ;-)

@rx8man

Come on now you know you want one! Perhaps you can try one against your excellent CEC unit? Not sure if there is a trial program or time period? Your DAC deserves the best it can get. Right?

Hey Mike Powel so it’s you , the OCD Hi-Fi guy , I saw a couple of your commentaries on YouTube last evening as a matter of fact .
Glad you really like the Rockna dac, bought one myself a couple weeks ago which should land here by months end .
 

Ok this respopnse is directed to TJ and Mike.

1st Geeez TJ  I buy amplifiers on your recommendation and then  you go and recommend something else. Whats with that....? How can a poor boy keep up? TJ you know where this is going...... however you have never steered me wrong. SO I would love to talk to you off line or at RMAF this year about the PASS 25. BUT if for what ever reason it seems you do not like coming out WEST! TJ Feeling any gulit?  I would like to talk to you offline about the preamp you are using. (best) > Finally Mike  are you taking any of your gear to RMAF this fall? If so I would love to meet you and talk to you about the DACS and the transport mentioned above by TJ.  
Finally blessings to you and TJ you add so much to our hobby !!!
Charlie 

Hi Guys, Mike Powell here.Ive got a Jays here now. Ive never... ever... ever seen a product like this. Esoteric is the closest thing. Its so well built, I really really want to keep it but it does not sound any better than my music server and its a heck of a lot more foot work to play music...Tonight I'll test server i2s vs transport i2s. So anyways not only can I vouch for the heft and sonic of this piece, but I am your factory rep right here in USA. I handle all warranty repairs right here in ATL. You also buy through me as well, so you have the insulation layer between China and yourselves. No sending money to a foreign entity and hoping whats in the box is what you purchased. Honestly, I dont know how much that even happens, but with me here you now have piece of mind regarding any overseas concerns. I also handle Kinki Studio and Denafrips along with stateside brands like Jeff Rowland, Exogal and a few others. I'm not a dealer or distributor, for this purpose here, I'm a factory rep and systems integrator if anything. Your product still ships factory fresh and direct like before except now I am guarantor.  I'm more of a "known associate" to companies like JRDG that allow me to sell as dealer even though I am not a dealer per se.  I am a killer client service guy though. So anyways, Ive got to run, just wanted to pop in and introduce myself. Feel free to email any of your feedback or questions my way. I'm happy to assist.

Oh yes, if you guys want to hear this equipment or see it closer in a rig, or even toe to toe shootouts Check out my Youtube channel called OCD Hi-Fi Guy. Happy listening !

Hey rx8man,

The Jay's Audio is not just a decent transport but performs at a reference level.  Which CEC do you own?  Remember, my reference until this piece was a CEC, the Jay's Audio provides the analog liquidity of the belt drive and adds on much better overall macro-dynamics, bass control, transparency, and more open and airy soundstage.

I'm sure the Jay's Audio is a decent transport, but my CEC isn't going anywhere soon.

@sleepwalker65 

"there" not "There"

I am sure this machine sounds nice but  it is over-engineered in at least with respect to vibrational damping.  There seems to be a widespread belief that increasing mass will get reduce the impact of vibrations from a spinning cd, lp or even from transformers.  I am sure it has some benefit but as opposed to a flimsy machine most metallic materials do not actually dampen anything rather they transfer vibrations nicely to the next part they are attached to and ring quite nicely which they would not do if they actually damped vibrations.  

Getting rid of the vibrations means converting them to some other form of energy which will not shake your circuit boards and the like. That is what materials like sorbothane do, convert the energy to heat. I have had very good results adding this material to a range of players from Woo transports to $40 portables.  (not to mention headphones and speakers)

That said, I am not a fan of the various sorbothane footers sold for this purpose.  I have had far better results  using small ( 3/4 inch sized) 1/4  self-stick 70 duro or 1/2 inch glued with Lord 7650 adhesive.  I apply this near the playing mechanism and near transformers.  Also small thin pieces can be applied to the clamping mechanism where it  presses on the cd. This is more tricky since the disc may stick to the sorb in some players or block ejection of the disc. The effects are revelation in sound and cost about $2-3 per player, a ridiculously cheap alternative to paying thousands.  

I have note that the sorbothane route is not unique to me.  For example I note SME is applying some kind of constrained damping (which means a visco-elastic material  with a backing, sorb is one of such materials) to its tone arms  "Internal constrained layer damps minute residual vibration leaving the tone-arm acoustically inert."  I noticed they also applied use various damping procedures to their extremely heavy and expensive turntables "  the duration of a vibration can be shortened by suitable damping.......This control of vibration is fundamental to the design of the player and goes much of the way to explaining the stunning tonal and dynamic neutrality that it exhibits." (bold added) http://store.acousticsounds.com/d/94863/SME-Model_2012A_Turntable_with_312S_Tonearm-Turntables  This form a $20.000, 74 lb unit.  They clearly understand that mass alone will not solve the problem.

Hey d2girls,

Regarding the PD-S95 transport I never had one in my system, but do know they are highly regarded.

It's funny that you mention the Sparkler transport, I tried to setup a review on it with the importer, but it just never worked out.  

Hey Brian,

Because I'm lucky to do professional reviewing I have owned and reviewed what are considered reference level DACS.  However, the quality of the CD transport can/does make a significant difference in the quality of what your DAC finally puts out.  Yes, you can use a CD player, if it has digital out option, as a transport to drive an external stand alone DAC, but the quality of the performance would still be effected by the purity of the bit stream being put out by the transport, not just the DAC itself. 

Sim Moon Neo 260-D transport with a 10-year warranty and never look back. 

Help me understand but aren't high end cd players becoming useless provided you have a great dac? A quality dac will receive the digital signal (optical or digital coax) from cd player, or any digital source (hifi streaming, phone ) and perform the quality analog conversion.
So am I correct to so that my $30 cd player connected to my $1, 700 dac (luxman da 250, I think $2,700 new) is probably as good as any high end cd player? If I am correct, shouldn't the original poster be advised to get a cheap cd player (with digital outs) and focus on getting a much more versatile dac?
Brian 

David _Ten , That’s great news and along with Alvin’s fabulous customer service any customer would be in very capable hands .

Hi jriggy,

Yes, I have heard the PS Audio PWT transport and thought it was fine sounding, but not quiet as "musical" or having some of the liquidity of my other transports historically. I forgot to mention on the list of transports that I have also owned the Acoustic Arts piece out of Germany.  

I was very surprised when the CEC TLN3 transport out performed my reference MBL that cost almost 24K more!  However, the Jay's Audio CDT-2 MK2 now has replaced the TLN3 as my reference for the reasons I stated already on this thread and is the least expensive of them all.  The build quality/performance is amazing and it's hard to believe that Jay's Audio delivers all of this at such a reasonable price.   

@in_shore I believe Mike Powell / Verrastar out of the Atlanta area is providing repair / warranty services for the Vinshine Audio product line which includes Denafrips, Kinki Studio, and Jays Audio, etc.

I also believe Mike has recently also become the U.S. representative for these product lines.

Reach out to Mike or Alvin, should you have any concerns.

Tejay, have you 3ver heard the PS Audio PWT Transport? Wondering it would make the list of great Redbook players. 

Thanks for the endorcment of this one. 

I considered purchasing the Jays Audio CT3 awhile ago however asking a couple questions of one enthusiastic owner here on Audiogon he was a little apprehensive answering my questions about the transport.
Giving more thought to the Jays Audio transport I wondered about reliability issues if any and with no representation here in North America anything that could go wrong sending it half way around the World for warranty repair did not appeal to me at all.

Like the Denafrips Terminator dac from China the Jays Audio transports looks to be on the same level of high level build and could very well prove to be highly reliable.

Currently I use a CEC TL2-N with a Empirical Syncro mesh that dramatically reduces jitter which is paramount importance for any transport .

“There” not “their”. 

Thanks for this thread. I had been using an Oppo 105 with aftermarket linear power module and incoming silver wired Rhodium IE. to spin discs. Both of those upgrades were huge. 

However, recently I upgraded to an Audio Alchemy stereo amp, which started a chain reaction. Next came the AA Dac/Pre (both the pre and dac are phenomenal, regardless of price: ditto th stereo amp), and then...

I dusted off my decade+ old Pioneer PD 65 CD player with Stage 3 Musical Concepts mod (outboard power supply) using it as a transport to spin redbook and the 105 SACD/DVD-As, and am blown away. . 

I think that this CD player: https://www.onkyousa.com/Products/model.php?m=C-7000R&class=Compact%20Disc&source=prodClass
…is absolutely terrific.
It sells for ~ $1,500. I bought mine (new) 3 or 4 years ago, from Crutchfield, and use it frequently. I truly doubt that you could do better at any price if judged  by aural comparison—and the mechanics are flawless. It's simply a top quality product in every respect.

I love my Yamaha CD-S2100!!!!!!

Try to look for Forsell Air Reference CDT. It will satisfy your CD spinning fun..

Hey acresverde,

I did research on your very question and the answer seems to be no.  Both mechanisms are highly regarded for both performance and durability.