Suggest Transports that can be Demo'd at home


I'm quite happy with my system (Silverline 17.5 monitors/Wells Majestic integrated/Aqua La Voce II/Jolida JD100 (as transport) but am wondering whether I ought to purchase another transport before they're no longer available.
$3000 would be my limit, budget-wise and longevity is a big concern. Used is OK, as long as unit is M. 

I have two caveats which make this tough-- 1) as a rule, I don't purchase any gear I can't first demo at home and 2)
I'd ideally prefer something made in N. America. Of these two qualifiers, the second is negotiable, but not the first.

I could demo a Bryston BCD-3 from Audio Advisor, but I'm not sure it makes sense to pay for a unit that includes a DAC I won't use. Also, I came across a comment in the Forums that the Bryston has fatiguing highs-- a flaw I particularly abhor. And, it's considerable over my budget. 

The Moon Neo 260D is not, as far as I can tell. possible to audition at home and I read on one of the AGon transport discussion threads that the drawer is flimsy. 

The Jay's Audio products look to be very good but I didn't see anything on their site about a trial period. 

A used PS Audio is a possibility, I guess, although I read that they used Oppo transports, which are no longer being made, so that's a concern from the longevity stand-point. 

 Any other units I should be aware of ??????????????

Thanks. 


stuartk

Showing 4 responses by georgehifi

Suggest Transports that can be Demo'd at home
When/if the new Schiit Urd get released, as with all their products they have a 15 day home trial period.

Cheers George  
stuartk OP
I’m unwilling to gamble on spending 3-4K to upgrade in that direction.
I can’t see a way to go that’s more practical than hanging on to what I’ve got until the Jolida gives up the ghost


Ah, you have the Jolida, this is a TNT Audio review of the Cambridge CXC $600 in Australia, and it happens the reviewer owned the Jolida, here’s what he said when he compared them
" To say there is a big difference would not be an exaggeration, the CXC clearly reads better than the Jolida. Playing music that had been ripped to the server via pc was always cleaner than the Jolida, which I had put down to the effects of the valve output and DAC. Comparing digital out on the Jolida to the CXC there is a vast difference with the Cambridge extracting more information (detail, air and ambient space) and less fuzziness (or cleaner sound). The CXC also trumps the sound of the same disc ripped via pc to the server."
https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/cambridge_cxc_e.html

Cheers George
The $600aud Cambridge CXC better than CEC TL51x transport we a/b them, and the CXC is new with warranty, with less jitter.

Cheers George
stuartk OP
I’m aware of the Cambridge and it may sound strange for someone with a 25K system to worry about a product being too inexpensive, but I do worry about that.

Don’t be, my systems up there too and I use the Cambridge CXC, it’s only $600aud here in Australia, but it’s a purpose built CD transport, that has very good spdif wave form (I’ve measured and see it) and said to only have 5 ps of jitter, and looking how clean the wave form is I believe that. Here’s what Lapizator (transport guru) said about it when I showed him pics of the tests.

This wave form is as perfect as it gets.
the speed is exactly 1.41 MHz.
Regards
Łukasz Fikus

The Sim Moon Neo 260D you said having a flimsy transport is that it has nothing special in the way of a transport laser mechanism, having a Sanyo SF-HD65 in it.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SFHD65M-SF-HD65M-HD65M-Original-New-Sanyo-Laser-Lens-Mechanism-SF-HD65/120971864496?epid=1300237646&hash=item1c2a7c29b0:g:wloAAMXQiM5RAREU&frcectupt=true

So one cost $600aud and the other $4000aud, with laser/transport mech that are, well as good as each other.

Some of the places you can get the Cambridge CXC from are the type of store that you can take it back to if not happy, here in AU they are in hiend stores but also in hifi chain stores that you can return to.

Reviews
https://www.whathifi.com/cambridge-audio/cxc/review

https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/cambridge_cxc_e.html

https://www.dagogo.com/cambridge-audio-cxc-transport-review/

Cheers George