Suggest Transports that can be Demo'd at home

I went through a similar problem recently. I wanted a U.S or N. American unit, or a non-Chinese sourced unit.

 I considered the Sim Audio unit, but was not sure what CD mechanism it used. I wanted a transport that used a dedicated audio CD drive, not an adapted computer drive. I also wanted a unit for which I could easily get a spare drive, in case it failed. I looked at the Japanese CEC TL05 drive, but the U.S. distributor did not respond back to me. I considered buying on E-bay, but  was unsure the unit could be adapted to U.S. voltage without affecting the sound quality.

 I then started looking at European units, and considered the Atoll (French) and Van Medevoort CT360D (Dutch). Both the units used a > $100 Teac 5020 audio only CD drive, which is a robust unit of newer design. and easily found. The Van Medevoort could not be sourced in the U.S.. So, I contacted the U.S. Atoll distributor, who was very responsive to my questions. The unit can be serviced in the U.S., I believe by Nick Gowan at True Sound. The components in the unit are largely of French manufacture. I picked up a spare drive  when I purchased the unit for a modest cost.

I am not certain if an in-home demo is available. Perhaps if you have a nearby dealer? I took a bit of a leap-of-faith by purchasing before hearing. But, I had read a number of European reviews and reviewed the internal design and construction, which appeared to be sound. 

The Tascam 200  uses the same Teac 5020 drive. The Atoll has a significant number of enhancements over it as a transport, but I’d bet the basic character is there. They can be sourced fairly cheaply, and perhaps that might give you enough insight on what a Teac 5020  based unit sounds like?  And the transport build quality? Perhaps a Tascam 200 might even sound good enough as a transport to suit your needs?

 The Bryston BCD-3 uses a Blue Tiger JPL-2800 transport, which appears to be a good quality drive. However, if you’re not going to use the DAC, I’d say you’ll get more value buying a dedicated CD transport.

That Primare CD35 also uses a Teac 5020 drive.   From what I can tell, a number of higher end transports are using the Teac drive. Just some info I thought I’d pass along.

I had been using an Oppo-93 SPDIF out to my Yggdrasil Analog 2 with a Jorma Digital cable (RCA at Oppo, BNC at the Yggdrasil). I was never quite satisfied with the sound. It seemed to be somewhat mechanical, bleached, or lacking tonal densities, with the mid-bass sucked out, and an emphasis on the treble. From memory, I seemed to recall getting better overall quality sound when I was using a CAL Delta transport with a lesser DAC (CIA VDA-2) and cabling.

The Atoll DR200 Signature gave me a fuller tone, with better timing (PRAT), and fluidity. The images are more defined and fuller bodied. The soundstage widened and deepened. The mid-bass is back. The sound is more relaxed, non-fatiguing, but still with good drive. 

So, basically everything improved.

There’s a review by Edouard Hendrix for AV2D (in Dutch, but can be translated), that pretty much spells out what I’m hearing.   If you search for “Atoll factory” (Son-Video blog) , you can find some interesting photos and story of the factory in the Normandy area of France. The Atoll is a fine unit. I’m sure some of the other units mentioned here are also quite good, too. 

 But, I suspect once you get to the level of the Sim Audio or Atoll ($2K-ish units), any additional refinements are going to be smaller, and at a significantly greater cost. Atoll also has a higher end, top loading unit ($4k-ish?), but that was more than I wanted to spend.

Yeah, the Primare CD-35 looks to include a DAC.

The Atoll CD transport was a significant upgrade to my system. But, that could also be because the Oppo 93 was so bad as a transport. I don’t know how good your Jolida works as a transport. 

If you have access to some other CD or DVD players to try as transports, you may want swap them around and see what you hear. That will give you an idea of the sensitivity.  I’m pretty sure with your gear the sound quality will improve with a better transport. How much? Hard to say, but I’m pretty sure you will hear it.

I’d expect you would hear a difference with the Heed Obelisk. Perhaps the Jolida is not too bad? What type of connection and cable are you using?

Your spdif cable might be a limiting factor, as could the power cables to the DAC and Jolida, to hearing differences.  You could probably get more resolution or shift the tone around with other cables. Cables can certainly affect the sound, sound staging, make it more liquid, etc.  Something you may wish to consider.

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.

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

I posted my opinion in the last CD Transport post.  I build my own direct heated triode R2R DAC and have used many transports including many of the above.  So here is my opinion.  I was using an older Audiomeca as a transport with a separate power supply.  That was the best sounding of everything mentioned above but it is not driven by a belt, it is driven by a string attached to a spring.  So repairing the unit is an issue.  I also used an older CEC TL5100Z and a Rega Apollo and Saturn as transports.  The CEC sounds better than the Rega but the Rega has great tone and more of a jump factor, CEC much more musical for long term listening.  I would choose the CEC over the Rega but could live with the Rega.  I used to own a CEC TL-2X which was nice sounding but I sold mine as CEC no longer had replacement parts.  It was a better sounding transport than my CEC TL-5100Z.  We compared the Cambridge to the NuPrime and to an older Sim Audio used as transports into my DAC and a Musical Fidelity (M1 DAC?) that was modified by me with V-Caps, etc.  In each listening arrangement, The Rega sounded better than the Cambridge, NuPrime and the Sim Audio.  We did not have the Jay Audio at that time but another person has one with the Terminator DAC.  That set-up did not outperform the CEC TL5100Z with the DHT DAC.  Was not even close.  So you have to really listen for yourself in your own system to see what you prefer.

If you are looking at older model units, the lasers are getting harder to find.  So even though these units can be repaired, it is getting harder to finds the parts.  Plus some of the lasers were modified so even if you do find the part, it may not be a plug and play arrangement.

I hope this was helpful.  Happy Listening. 

According to Bel Canto website, that cdp you suggested is no longer being made, as the drives are no longer available.  I'd be nervous purchasing a unit for which no drives were available, in case of failure.

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

" 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."