2. digital
  3. 1378710855

Phillips no longer producing transports

Hi folks, as many of you are no doubt aware Phillips have decided to stop producing the Pro 2 LH transport used by ARC, Ayon, Vitus and others. What does this all mean? I'm informed by one manufacturer who I wont name that their stock of transports is good for another year or so of production whilst maintaining stock for warranty service. I'm told they are now moving toward designing a server to replace cd players in future. Esoteric are still manufacturing transports, and Accuphase have moved to a proprietory transport mechanism, so cd players will still be produce into the future. But for a powerhouse like Phillips to give up on cd transports is a harbinger, a sign of things to come and the likely phasing out of cd production. It is likely in future cd production will only continue in small runs of for audiophile labels and boutique producers, and high res downloads will continue to develop and become more mainstream. I think Bob Dylan said "The times they are a changin'".
melbguy1

Showing 7 responses by knghifi

knghifi
1,668 posts
 
Let us hope that a more focused group will continue to produce CD drives, exclusively
... until chapter 11.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
Audiolabyrinth you have already beat this to death on another thread.
Just like one of my old Philips drives, stuck on REPEAT! Tara Labs ... on and on and on ...

I say good ridden to Philip Transports. All my cd players with Philip drives had problems. Many were very expensive Krells. Sounds fantastic when working but never for long. Now 100% computer audio with music backup on USB drives.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
Melbguy1, I respect your decision. We all have our preferences unless constantly shoving it and needing confirmation of their decisions from others.

If you plan to like you cd player, I suggests buy spare transports for backup. Good luck!
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
@ Knghifi, For what its worth, there are many, many people who enjoy talking about Taralabs cables!, just like any thing else, its just a hobby!, do not knock me for Taralabs!, I do not knock you about eanything!, I cannot help that there is a following of Taralabs that is huge!, we will keep on and on!, we enjoy our conversations!
That's NOT my point. I could careless what you use.

BTW, I don't care if you knock my decisions. Only think imporant is I don't knock my decisions.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
You are talking about Philips SACD drives. That is a very different design, which indeed was problematic. On the other hand, the CD-Pro2 discussed in this thread, is very reliable.
NO I'M NOT. I'm talking about Philips CD drives.

Phillips Pro transport mechanisms are serviceable and can be easily reconditioned to perform as new ...
I don't know the model I had but you can't fix something that never worked.

I remember asking Patrick @Krell why use such a unreliable transport and his answer, because it sounds good.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
What Krell model that was ?
KPS30i. After 3 or 4 new replacements, Krell ran out of transports and gave me KPS 30i replacement. I forgot the model but 1st one had transport issues and I traded in the 2nd one. Too bad ... they sound fantastic.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
And I am not certain I see the need for real time CD playback given that the "ripped to file" systems are at least as good or better sonically, and they need much less expensive CDROM/DVDROM drives and a few chips to implement.
Yep, exactly my conclusion 6+ yrs ago.

If one of my backup USB drive or internal HDD dies, inexpensive to replace. All modular so just plug and play.
More to discover