I use a CEC TL5 transport and DA5 DAC in my personal system. CEC makes on of the best belt drive transports on the market at a price point. I like the musicality of the CEC products the best. CEC transports only read RED Book and they do that extremely well.
My Last CD player
I like my vinyl but digital has its own set of benefits. When my last CD player fell of its perch, I move to streaming audio. Overall, I have been happy with this decision. I did notice that lately, a number of posters have been claiming that CD is “better” than streaming. I figured that most of these were flat earthers. I recently had the opportunity to listen to a “new generation” CD player on a friends system. I am not sure I would say it was better but it was different and in a very good way. As I have an extensive CD collection, this set me off to evaluate a new CD player for my system .... at my age presumably the last I will own. I have identified a few different used players that seem to check the short list boxes: Audio Research cd 7 SE, Ayon cd10 Signature II Ultimate, Ayon cd35 Signature I and Luxman
D-06u. I am auditioning the Ayon cd10 at home .... smooth, natural, musical, holographic image, but light on dynamics and soundstage. Anyone have experience with these players? Any other suggestions?