My Denon CDP crapped out so I employed my Sony BDP-S350 Blu ray player and didn't notice a drop off. I go digital out to a Wadia 321 DAC. I demo'd a CXC and compared it head to head with the Sony and could not notice a compelling difference to warrant an upgrade. Digital out Sony still sounds better than Deezer Elite >Sonos W4S-mods>Wadia. But I would really like to get my hands on the 260d or a PS Audio transport and try that. Barns and Noble has select CD's for $5 for gods sake.
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