pro-ject cd box rs2 vs jays audio cd2 mk3

Jumping ahead to late December 2021, I can say from personal experience that the Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T is STUNNINGLY better-sounding than the Jay's Audio CD2-MK3 transport, even when the Jay's is linked to my Holo Audio MAY KTE DAC via its i2s HDMI-style interface! 

My Pro-Ject CD Box is connected to my Holo Audio MAY DAC by the best-available method, AES/EBU, using a Shunyata Research Alpha Digital v2 AES/EBU 2-meter cable, and "this combo beats the pants off" the Jay's. 

What really gets to me is that before I ordered my Jay's Audio MK3 CD transport, I did a LOT of searching-around on the Internet for the best value-for-money CD Transport out there, and the Jay's Audio unit was the only one I could find.

Later, quite by accident, I chanced across a reference on Audiogon.com to the Pro-Ject CD Box. Before, I had NO idea it existed! As it happens, during my search for reviews of the CD Box, I found one for sale here in Chicago, at Music Direct, so I grabbed it out of sheer curiosity, knowing i could return it if I didn't like it. 

I've had the Pro-Ject CD Box unit for just day, and I'm already literally overwhelmed by the detail I am hearing from my large CD collection, detail no other player or transport I have ever owned has been able to retrieve.

Now I'm in the regrettable position of knowing that I'm going to have to sell my Jay's Audio MK3 transport. It is a beautifully-made piece of audio gear - so it's a downright SHAME that Jay's didn't opt to use the new cutting-edge Philips-based-design CD mechanism used in the Pro-Ject unit. The build-quality of the Jay's Audio CD transport is exemplary - so it's unfortunate indeed that they based it on an obsolete, no-longer-manufactured CD drive and optical mechanism. Seems Jay's Audio scarfed up all the world's remaining stock of this obsolete drive, so they're good to go for a while to come, but the SONIC RESULTS the Jay's Audio MK3 produces come in a distant second to the CD Box RS2 T's. 

Hard to believe a humble CD transport mechanism can make THAT much of a sonic difference, but the proof of that is right here in front of us.

@ jaymark:  I am so sorry you had such a disappointing experience with your Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T.  There had to be a reason why Music Direct was selling it "open box."  I live right here in Chicago so I deal with Music Direct in person, and they will stand behind you 100% and get your money back, 

Seems you've given up on the Pro-Ject unit, and I don't blame you for doing so after your experience of it - but if you get a good NEW working example of it, and your experience is anything like mine has been, you won't be disappointed!

I will not be overly surprised to see China’s Jay’s Audio, sooner rather than later, come ’round to the realization that, as word of the Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 T spreads ever wider, they will have to start building their CDT2-MK3 (or its as-yet unnamed successor) around the latest-design top-loading transport mechanism used in the CD Box and elsewhere.

If Jay’s Audio continues on its present course, my guess is they will soon find themselves left far behind in the sales dust as customers-in-the-know will no longer voluntarily settle for their beautifully-made CD transport, but one unfortunately saddled with and handicapped by its technologically obsolete and no-longer-manufactured top-loading CD mechanism.

This outcome is all the more likely because the Jay’s in its present form is priced very closely to the CD Box RS2 - and furthermore because nearly everyone agrees that its sound is no match for the CD Box’s.

@ jaymark: Quoting you, "I am blown away (by) the phenomenal sound now emanating from my modded Holo dac."   

Which Holo Audio DAC are you referring to, and what kind of "mod" did you perform (or have done) on it?