Oppo 980 or Sony 9100ES or Denon 3910 as transport

Now, if it fits in the budget.....
Or, I wait and go completely hard disc...

Decisions, decisions....!

Tgrisham - I'd wait for the new PSAudio Perfect Wave Transport (PWT). See:

http://www.psaudio.com/newsletters/7-08.asp

And to expand on what Bob said, Rega invested a small fortune into co-engineering a new CD drive for their new players instead of switching to an off-the-shelf DVD drive. For a small company to go to such great lengths and take a significant financial risk speaks volumes, I think.

Ekobesky, Thanks much for the info. The hunt continues!

On the high end -- I would think any of the single-disc players from Marantz, and especially the Marantz Reference Series, would be good. If you can swing a used Sony SCD-777ES, that would be a nice buy as well but even used that's big bucks. The McIntosh MCD201 can be had used in the $2k range and it it's built like, well, a McIntosh. It will last and be supported for many, many years to come.

On the more reasonable end -- The current Marantz SA8001 is a great machine and sounds excellent with Red Book and SACD right from the analog outputs. Street price is around $800 and it comes with a 3-year warranty. Used ones go for around $600. I might avoid the previous model though, the SA8260, which over time reportedly developed problems reading certain discs (though it still sounds very good). Anything in the Marantz Reference Series is plenty sweet, too. New models start at $2k but I've seen used ones in the $1000 range.

As far as dark horses go -- You might also look for a used Music Hall Maverick -- one of the forgotten (and therefore, undervalued) players. Originally sold for over $1,500, used ones now go for about 1/3rd of that. Even has an upsampling DAC!

Ekobeshy, thanks for your thoughtful reply. Much of what you say makes sense. When you think of a dedicated SACD/CD player as a transport, which ones do you think of?

My bias against DVD players as transports has only about a 50% technical basis, though I've heard rational arguments against as well as for. It just boils down to my own personal bias based on experience with both.

The main reason why I don't like them is that I think dedicated CD decks sound better. Again, just my personal experience.

But it also has to do with practical criteria. Trigsham expressed concern about any "operational quirks." In this respect, for 2-channel audio, DVD interfaces are often impractical, requiring some kind of monitor in the room to do setup. Even if you have one, as it seems he does, I find that skipping tracks and scanning forward or back can be frustrating on DVD units. Plus, the remotes and controls have tons of buttons and functions totally superfluous to CD playback. I've rarely seen a setup where unnecessary complication results in better sound.

Tgrisham also said he wanted something with "low jitter and tank-like reliability". I think almost all sub-$1000 DVD players are built like crap. Whereas an old Denon or Sony ES or Marantz or Pioneer Elite is built like a tank and can now be had cheaply. A solid, well-isolated chassis is always going to be a good thing. Not that there aren't well-made DVD players, and in fact there are plenty from the brands mentioned above, but then we get back to all those circuits just sitting there doing nothing related to Red Book playback. And all those empty, unused outputs around back.

Just my opinion.

Thinking about it, though, if he likes the sound of the Jolida, why not keep it? Or try an Oppo back-to-back? So what if the tube section is being bypassed? If it really bothers you, I think the tubes are just for the analog output stage so just take them out of the player and enjoy.

But if you really want the best Red Book and SACD playback, I still say go for a dedicated SACD/CD player.

I doubt that calling a drive DVD or CD makes much difference. It is all about the construction of the drive. I have heard that DVD drives are more like computer drives and that is appealing.

I don't think anything with a DVD drive should be used as a transport.

I'd be interested to hear why you think that. Some people -- the Bound for Sound guy, for example -- have argued the opposite, that DVD drives make the best transports.

Thanks for your reply. I am still in the "contemplative" stage and am looking at every possible option. It is hard to give up the Oppo as a video source since it is so precise and versatile. I don't mind having a separate Redbook CD source, as long as it is superior to the DVD source.

Personally, I don't think anything with a DVD drive should be used as a transport.

I would look for one of the older Sony ES or Pioneer Elite CD players, especially if you can find one of the "Stable Platter" models. Marantz and Denon also made some nice, hefty players with solid transports.

Or you could get yourself a good, single box SACD/CD player like a used Sony SCD-1 or a brand new player from the likes of McIntosh and Marantz and ditch the complication of having a separate DAC, CD transport and SACD player.