Resolving CD Transports Crowd Sourcing

I bought a Jay's CD3 Mk III a few months ago and I highly recommend it. It's massively well built and a pleasure to use. I have compared it to my Marantz KI Ruby SACD player's transport into my Berkeley Alpha Reference 2 DAC and I can't hear much difference. They both sound great. I think I can hear a slight improvement in soundstage when I use the 4X oversampling but it's very subtle.

I've got a Teac 701 on order from Music Direct. They show it as on backorder but I believe that Teac is not yet shipping this unit and I don't know when it will be available.

Why would I want a Teac transport as well as the Jay's audio? It turns out that the CD3 has a characteristic that is a downside for my situation. I collect HDCDs (the Alpha DAC decodes them) but the CD3 doesn't play them. It apparently uses dither on the first bit where the HDCD instructions are encoded. If you read the Stereophile review they note that the transport uses dither which is unusual. When you turn on the 4X oversampling it uses all the bits but that doesn't work for HDCD.

@wharfy

Yes, but I’m not able to comment on that unit’s sound because I simply could not deal with its small dimensions -- I found it so impractical that I quickly reboxed it and sent it back to TMR. Therefore, I spent very little time listening. For whatever it’s worth those who’ve heard both seem to consistently favor the pro-ject’s sonics, so I’m an outlier.

I have my system pretty well dialed in at this point and have no complaints about resolution but keep in mind I’m quite sensitive to any hint of fatigue or forwardness and am willing to sacrifice a modicum of resolution for the sake of musicality. If resolution is a top priority, the pro-ject or the Jay’s CDT3MKIII might be better choices for you.

If TMR still sells pro-ject, you could take advantage of their return policy, keeping in mind the fact they’ve begun charging a restock fee. Good luck!

I must agree with nonoise. Posting a reply that is not an answer is not likely to be helpful or even appreciated. A person may have reasons for not streaming, such as lack of bandwidth. Where I live fibreop has been within four kilometres for two years without moving any closer. Streaming means nobody else in the home would have access to wifi while I listen to music.

At the very least, prefacing your reply with a question as to whether or not the OP has considered other options would appear (to me) to be both more helpful and less arrogant. After all, one person's path is not necessarily everyone's. 

@wharfy 

So I have the Audiolab CDT6000 and an OPPO running into a Pontus ll and they sound pretty close to me. If I was to upgrade my Transport, I’d look for I2S to get the best sound output and the Teac does not have, but the Jay’s Audio CDT2 MK3 does.

All the best.

@8th-note 

The TEAC 701 versus the Jay’s Audio CD transport will be most interesting. I hope that you are able to do this at some point.

@stuartk 

It is good to read that the Jay’s Audio CDT2 has worked out well for you. Congratulations!!

Charles