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looking for the best cd transport only, without dac

I have a Hegel H160 with inbuilt DAC and I'm looking for cd transport recommendation for $1000 or so. I have Harbeth SHL5 + and like an open and transparent sound. I've considered PS Audio PWT and other used options. I'm currently using my $75 Sony bluray player for transport and surprised how good it sounds. I've auditioned transports like Marantz and Cambridge. Options like Primare and Audionote I have't been able to listen to, the latter ones used to get closer to price point. There is also the Oppo 203, but wonder about quality of sound sacrifices in jack of all trades box? When I have compared the few transports I've tried the sound quality differences were quite subtle. So have people here done some serious comparisons of sound quality of just transports and have any great recommendations? Thanks
ckharbeth

Showing 11 responses by itzhak1969

itzhak1969
515 posts
 
The CXC  don't support SACD as all other pure CD transport don't do it as well but the major advantage of the CXC is that it can read hybrid CDs when almost all other CD transpots can support only red book CDs.

itzhak1969
515 posts
 
I owm the Cambridge Audio CXC excellent transport, great value for money.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
When I bought the CXC I didn’t have much expectations due its very low price but from the first operating I was overwhelmed from its great capabilities to expose  every detail from the cd and to do it with the most natural and musical manner.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
The PS Audio perfect wave is also a dvd player and can support other formats such as wav and DSD,instead of you if I am willing to spend around 2k I would prefer the PS over the neo 260d ,however if you are listening to cds only I would buy the CXC.if you really want a game changer you should consider the CEC TL5 apparently the best CD transport ever made at this price level.

itzhak1969
515 posts
 
Don’t consider regular CDP players as transport ! they are lousy as transport because their inner DAC adding jitter and noise. since you already have DAC you need pure CD transport without inner DAC uder $1000 the best option I can think of is the Cambridge Audio CXC .if you are willing to spend more the Cyrus cdt or the other pure transports options that were already discussed here in this thread.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
Belief  me I do own McIntosh system and  hi end cables that cost many times more than the CXC I ordered this transprt from my dealer without listening because at that time I couldn't afford to spend more and I was overwhelmed from it great capabilities from such a cheap gear,In the far future maybe I will upgrade to the CEC TL5 but for now I am very hapy with it.your DAC is much more important at determining the sound signature if the cd transport has low jitter and reliable mechanic drive it's enough you don't need more than that and CXC has it big time.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
CD transport itself doesn’t have sound signature however there are very important things that determining how good the CD transport is : level of jitter, the quality of the laser lens, inner cabling , inner clock,the mechanical drive and so on ,so evantually the CD transport can degrade or improve the sound it depends on the quality of the transport  .I do agree that it is very important component at our system and we can’t cut corners here.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
The Mark Levinson is a beast but it’s about 20 years old .
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
Are you sure the inner dac at Simaudio Neo260D outperform the Bryston DAC ?
I heard the Bryston dac and was very impressed by its analog ,worm tube like sound, Didn't hear the Neo260D can you explain what it did better ?
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
If you auditioned the Neo260D and compared to the CXC, the differences were very subtle that's show you how good the CXC is at the same level as the Neo260D that cost many times more ! I bought the CXC as a temporary solution to my system till funds allow to buy a serious hi-end transport and was impressed  how good it is.
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
DVD is the worst transport option I can think of ! You have already an excellent Dac you need also a good dedicated transport and quality coax cable .
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