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Looking for comparisons between CD transports

I'm still a disc-spinner, having a pretty large collection of CDs across a range of genres, though mostly classical. About 2 years ago I bought an Audiolab CDT6000 and lived with it for about a month before deciding it wasn't my cup of tea and selling it off. While its clarity and soundstage were impressive, there wasn't sufficient heft to the music, and it seemed to favor the music's component parts rather than portraying a cohesive whole. 

I'm considering the Audiolab 9000, the Schiit Urd, and possibly the Primare DD15. That's the budget range I'm comfortable with. (Despite the glowing reviews, Jay's Audio is kind of out or range for me at this point).  I'd be grateful to hear opinions on how these transports stack up against each other from those of you who have heard one or more of them. It will be running through a Sonnet Morpheus DAC, if that info is helpful. Thanks!

 

 

cooper52

Showing 3 responses by oddiofyl

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,066 posts
 

https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-88-teac-vrds-701t-cd-transport

I have had this a little over a week.  It is phenomenal. 

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,066 posts
 

Thanks !  I am loving it.    Major step forward from a universal player as a transport.   Wish I did it a while back but life, kids, college, etc kept budget in check.   I did have one dedicated transport years ago, it was an Audio Alchemy based on a Sony CD drive.  It sounded good but didn't live very long.   

It's the closest I'll get to an Esoteric and there's a lot of trickle down technology in there.   Hopefully it'll be my last player for a long time.  

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
4,066 posts
 

The 701t betters my Aurender N200 with 44.1k streams and many "remastered" hi res titles with Qobuz or Tidal.   The N200 is no slouch either....

I'm not quite sure what I'm getting with streaming.  Are earlier albums recorded prior the advent of CD just sample rate converted 44.1k files? Are they analog mastered in 24/96?  I know there a lot of copies of the same recording out there that don't necessarily sound the same.   What's really going on with the stream? Where are the originals sourced from?   

Some streamed content is amazing, some is kind of disappointing.     CDs through that 701t sound great,  even CDs that grated on me are very listenable. 

 I'm  glad I didn't purge my CD collection,  I'm rediscovering some great recordings

 

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