Silly Question...does a transport have a "sound" ?

Anybody with knowledge and experience with good ears, and especially those with test equipment will tell you that the transport will effect what you hear. Those with limited knowledge, lack listening skills, have only a basic understanding of theory with no test equipment will tell you what they think. Obviously, their response is based on their limited understanding and lack of experience with the subject, not on actual observations. Sean
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Jafox: Why am i expected to provide points of reference when those that present a "negative" aren't? Isn't this somewhat of a double standard or are you making this statement because it was i that made those comments and not someone else? While i understand that was i said was rather bold and confrontational, isn't someone saying that there are no differences or that if there are any differences, that they are "broken" just as bold and confrontational? I'm being serious here.

Why don't you ask Hovland to tell you about their experiences with transports, both "inexpensive" and "mega-dollar"? If you want me to tell you the story, i can do that. Just let me know. I'll even use product names too, but some folks are going to get pissed because they'll find out that they spent their money on brand & reputation rather than performance and sonics. Then again, one would have to assume that Hovland was also pissed when they spent many thousands of dollars only to find out that their "budget" transport was far superior, both sonically and electrically. Sean
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Jafox: Hovland was using a transport that started life as a $100 Pioneer CD player in their "reference system". This player was professionally modified in heavy fashion and marketed under another name. It sold for $500, even though it retained the "cheezy" low grade Pioneer chassis. In finished form, this product was the G&D Transforms Reference One Transport.

People hearing this system said that it sounded quite good, but always felt the need to add one more comment. That is, how much better would this system be if they got rid of that "cheezy" transport and put something "for real" into the system? No matter how "modified" the existing transport was, it was after all still a "lowly" Pioneer at heart and had a flimsy chassis.

After all of the hoopla, Hovland replaced the $500 G&D Reference One with the top of the line CEC transport. Ever see the price tag on one of those things??? They purchased this unit based on recommendations to them from others in the industry, hoping to achieve the best performance possible.

After installing the CEC into the system, the sound was nowhere near as good. They tried changing cabling, power cords, etc... all the usual "band aids" that one goes through to try and correct for an under-designed unit and a lack of "system synergy". When all was said and done, they put the G&D modified Pioneer unit back into the system. Not only was the G&D back into the system, the music was too. Problem solved, but it only cost them thousands upon thousands of dollars to figure out that they had the answer all along. That answer demonstrates that throwing money at a system won't make it sound good, nor will relying on "big brand names" or "industry references".

The end result was that Hovland ended up taking the guts out of their G&D Reference One and installing it into a fancy looking chassis. This allowed them to retain the excellent sonics of a good yet basic design that had been thoroughly modified in a well thought out manner. At the same time, it also allowed them to stifle those wanting something that blended with the rest of the system in a more aesthetically pleasing manner. After all, who could vote for a system as "best of show" when they were using a "budget" Pioneer cd player as their source???

As a side note, Tony from G&D ran into the same problem. So many people dismissed his modified Pioneer based unit based on the looks, that he ended up doing what Hovland did. Even though J. Peter Moncrieff of IAR stated that the G&D was the best measuring, lowest jitter transport that he had ever measured ( all this for $500 ), others couldn't get past the looks of the unit. Quite honestly, even Moncrieff couldn't get by the looks or "plastic" construction and de-rated the unit accordingly.

As such, Tony took the guts of the Pioneer, modified them as he had always done and then installed them in a "fancy" chassis. Not only was this chassis sturdier, it looked more "audiophile" too. This unit was called the G&D UTP-1 ( Ultimate TransPort-1 ) and sold for several hundred more dollars than the original unit in the original chassis. Either way, you still ended up getting the "cheezy" Pioneer remote with either unit : )

One more thing. Transports DO contribute to the jitter that one encounters in a digital based system. Try looking at ANY review of a transport in Stereophile and you'll see the various jitter measurements that accompany that component. Some transports are MUCH higher in jitter than others. For the record, jitter was first "discovered" by Ed Meitner. One of the regulars that posts here i.e. Jtinn, used to run a G&D based system until he switched over to a newer and more advanced Meitner based system. Obviously, Mr Tinn likes clean sound and has good taste in audio gear that is low in jitter : ) Sean
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PS... The story of the Hovland was told to me by an industry professional. This person is both well known on these and other forums and a reputable source of info. I have no reason to doubt what they've told me in the least, hence my willingness to repeat it as told to me.

Jafox: G&D does mods to the PD-65 as far as i know. They were the first company to use such things as "super clocks" and "precision regulators" in mass produced audio gear. Prior to this, the only people doing such things were DIYer's tweaking their own gear. Tony simply put his DIY approach to improving a good but simple and cost effective product on the market for all to buy and use.

Ehoehn: I'm not 100% certain, but i think that G&D are the initials of the last names of the proprietors. Tony's name is something like De Giovanni or Giovanni, etc... Bob Crump would know this one.

As far as their transports still being available, i don't think so. It is possible that Tony may have some laying around somewhere, but i doubt it. This is not to say that he wouldn't be willing to modify what you already have. To be quite honest though, there are better ways to impliment the technology used in the mods that Tony came up with than the way that he did them many moons ago. In effect, one of these older "modified" transports could benefit from further modifications even today.

Bundy: Adding a DAC means two additional links to the chain. I don't know how "worthy" the Pioneer is in this regards ( due to lack of familiarity with it ), but most "professional tweakers" feel that a "one box" is capable of better performance than a "two box" that is built to the same standards. You might want to check with Rick at Electronic Visionary Systems or Kyle at Reference Audio Mods to see what they have to say. Rick is brutally honest and may talk you out of investing more money into the unit itself. That is, if he doesn't think it is worth messing with. Pioneer sometimes uses proprietary DAC's that aren't that great, wasting much of the potential benefits of a one-box design. Sean
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