With my limited transport experience I can nevertheless confirm that transports have made an important difference at each case in my audio career, even comparable to DACs. The only pure transport I own(ed) is the Audiolab 8000CDM; it is now clearly bettered by a Philips DVD 963 SA - as a transport -, feeding the Bel Canto DAC2. It offers much more detail and a more colorful sound, whereas the Audiolab sounds downright dark in comparison. I guess the Philips has a very good transport section.
Martian_23