why a 75 dollar blue ray smokes all 2k CD players and any turntable???

Work from and learn from your own ears. If you are serious about the music, this is the only authentic approach, much of the rest is just a possibility. Also, learn to relax your mind and truly focus, when listening, which no one seems to want to discuss. Troubling and obsessing over stereo equipment will rob you of your music. Your state of mind when listening is MORE IMPORTANT than your componentry. 

He's correct in his assessment that the biggest challenge anymore is the speaker not the DAC or amplifier etc.. which have exponentially less distortion than speakers. Most DACs and amps if they measure reasonably well are indistinguishable in blind tests.



^^^^^^^^^^^
I think you are correct placing speakers as <<THE critical component>> in any system.. 
Followed by amp
then cd player
then cables/speaker wires.
I am glad to see speakers finally take center stage as <<most significant influence>> in a  high fidelity system. 
ITS ABOUT TIME
This hypothesis can be  easily proven to be true. 

aeschwartz 
As I stated, I posted a pic of my Vpi playing an album on a bands fan site (70s progressive rock) My point of the pic was showing an lp spinning vintage progressive rock.His response was sarcastic stating "wow it sounds sooo much better then a cd" .I responded basically saying I also have a solid digital front end but prefer analogue sound .His response was his version of a lesson for me telling me I was wasting money on my system and his 500.00 mission speakers and blue ray was equal or better. I responded saying digital has benefits in many cases including on paper ,but I still prefer a solid analogue frontend although it can get expensive.I do not in any way believe a 75.00 blue ray smokes a solid dac cd front end ,and still prefer my analogue for the sound I prefer. 

"We all have different likes, needs and expectations of what, in our particular environment, satisfies our musical enjoyment."      Exactly!      And; it’s the dedication to the pursuit of that, "musical enjoyment", that translates into what one is willing to spend.      Speaking for myself; I don’t spend my money on (what some consider) ancillaries to make my main components, "sound good".       I do whatever I do, to bring out their best.          It's been my experience; from the stylus (or little, jitterless digits), to the eardrum- everything matters!

To say the least, I am quit skeptical of the ridicules prices now being tagged on some of audio's supposed hi end components and products, but, without doubt, I know that all components, cables and other audio products (regardless of price) do not sound the same as their counter parts. 
I have three CD players that each have their own sound and level of performance. The one that, hands down, sounds/sounded the best and does/did better with large, complex musical and vocal passages, is the one I've had the most trouble with and has recently stopped reading discs. The old stand-by Dennon (while not quit on sonic par with the others) does sound good and is the one that just keeps going, has never given me a problem and has no trouble reading, even my less than perfect discs.
I have also had the same experience with amps, pre amps, cables, etc. and not always did I get the best performance out of the one that cost the most. The idea that someone with a $10K set of speakers would need a $25,000 amp $10K or 20K in cables and a $10K power conditioner, to make them sound good, seems like a bit of a lark to me, but to each their own.
We all have different likes, needs and expectations of what, in our particular environment, satisfies our musical enjoyment.
For me, it is (with a little trial and error, patience and at a reasonable cost) what works best with my Maggies, to make the music I like sound good.....Jim
 
 

     Oleschool, thanks for your post . You have a nice system BTW  . I think talking/ believing in absolutes is a mistake , as you pointed out by posting the other gentleman’s opinion .  I found out first hand how poor my “ Old Memories “ are by picking up a pair of JBL 4312’s  to relive my youth . After trying 5 different amps and being less than satisfied, they reside in the closet . And sitting on top of them is an OPPO 105D in pristine condition , that to me doesn’t sound that great . I have a Musical Fidelity transport , a modded Thorens TT, and a Schiit Yiggy DAC . Sometimes digital sounds better, sometimes vinyl . My friend was an Acoustic Zen dealer and has a load of their cables as well as a upgraded pair of Adagio’s . The Adagio’s are “ In the closet “, as he prefers his Dali’s . We all like what we like , even when they’re both nice . As far as “ Skinny Wire “, I run Morrow , having previously used Anti-Cables . I’m definitely cost driven , as I have a wife and other hobbies . One of your points that I appreciate is your history of trying numerous components and still totally open to experimenting. The members that are in this thread have some very good advise without being absolute or snobbish. I’m currently running a SEP amp and am pining for a Benchmark Amp , so go figure . 🤪 Happy listening and best wishes, Mike B. And yes I have a Buell . 

Nobody says "alas" anymore.

Typical arrogance - shock and awe...

NWOR

Whatever happened to listening for ones self? I prefer not to be led but to hear things for myself.

As do many afflicted by auditory hallucination. "I know what I hear!" There is science-based treatment available for those willing or, maybe more importantly, anyone at all even interested...

Oh, let us count the vested financial interests and conflicts of interest among those posting on these forums, not to mention the ego-driven sunk-cost biases that will NEVER be given up, especially at the "high end" - among other things, they simply cost WAY too much to squander for the sake of science. "Please don’t threaten my religion." OK - I get it!

In the end, everyone has a right to their expensive jewelry and adornments.

Let the attacks on the "naysayer’s" systems, hearing, sophistication, etc. commence - like koi to food pellets in a fish pond.

Alas, this will never change...

As a wealthy person with excellent taste, I feel that spending big bucks on everything I like is very important. An example is my new streamer (a "bluesound" something or other), which cost, wait for it, over 500 bucks! What I get for that is great sound and another tiny blue light (it has lighted stuff on top also, virtual "frosting on the cake")...and, after all, I'm worth it!

Before we all get carried away with just how good a $2k or $3k DAC might be, it might be worth asking what happens to all of this superiority when the lights are turned off and it's compared to a $5 one?

If you fancy a fancy DAC then you should buy it, but buy it for its boutique value.

Just let's not kid ourselves over any perceived sonic advantages.

Everyone's ears are different. I respect your opinion, but I can hear a difference by trading CD players, dvd players, blue ray players, pre amps, DACs. Power amps, and speaker cables. I will not spend alot of money, but will try to do the best for my budget.

Is that envy on your part @zerobias? Rodmann maybe appreciates the finer things in life (as do I) and apparently you do not. Be it wine, food travel or hifi, why would you resent this? Unless you are a mean spirited spendthrift. You live your way, I live mine and I never consider myself better or superior, I just consider myself fortunate and truly blessed to be able to enjoy some of the more expensive things in life. I did not start out this way, 40 years of work and more work and now I am reaping the rewards

Another of the weekly thought provoking posts for us audio fools to question what it is that we are doing.
The devil has taken us off the path yet again from reaching total fulfillment of life on this earth. 

Hello,
A $300 DAC cannot beat a $2000 DAC let alone a more expensive one. Their are only a handful of companies that make the SACD transports. PSAudio, and Ayre both used Oppo in really expensive players. In the end it was their amazing DACs. All of the components are important usually with a weak link in the system. One that I was not expecting was the power protector. I was using pretty high end  Furman power conditioners. I tried the Puritan PSM-136 and PSM-156. Both were leaps ahead of the Furman products that cost the same. Everyone says start with the speakers. I say if you can afford it start with the outlet on the wall. I do think it’s amazing how much better a $29 DVD player sounds on a good DAC and even better on a really good DAC. Most of us cannot afford our end game speaker until the end of a game. I just listened to a pair of active KEF speakers on a blu node streamer total cost $1000 Very amazing. Most people should start this way since just about every TT listener is streaming. 

I am a bit confused why this is being discussed at length. Are speakers the weakest link (theoretically) in the chain. Uh, yes. Does that mean that nothing else matters? Only to someone with a tin ear. If they are happy, I am good with them. But why the hell would they be on Audiogon? There is some equipment that I personally like that is barely "good enough" to be on Audiogon (not my opinion; I have looked for it here and it ain't around much - and not because people buy it and keep it forever.) So why the long thread? It started on a total BS premise. Everything matters, but speakers are the final and weakest link.

Back in 80s, I sold technics, JVC, and panasonic CD's.  At the time, they all sounded the same. They were all priced the same. I held off purchasing one to the late 80s. This was around the time, I first heard what HiFi really sounded like - It was a tube Telefunken system imported from Germany. It was unlike anything I had ever heard in the Stereo shop. A warm lush wide soundstage that immersed around my ears. It was magical. I began my CD quest and bought a Philips CD-880. Many told me I was insane for paying $1000+ for a CD player as they all sounded the same. I never heard it before buying it.  Well many can tell you, it does not sound like the cheap $300 CD players of that era. It is a natural sound with clarity. I kept it for 20 years and sold it when the Denon SACD/DVD entered my mix.  Yes 5.1 audio like DTS sounded amazing and was cool but like most things, it was a fad.  A couple of years later, I really missed that Philipps & bought a used one.   

Years ago I had a Pioneer blue ray player which was supposed to be good. The picture was good but when I hooked it up yo my audio system, it sounded terrible.

Russbutton:  Exactly.

I have more than a dozen recordings, originally done before digital mastering, on both vinyl and digital.  While there are real differences between them, I find neither to be superior.  There are things I like about each that are better than the other, and none of them surpass the sheer enjoyment of the music itself.

I still have the first LP I ever bought, while in high school back in 1968.  I have many LPs that will never make it to digital.  But for newbies, vinyl is just not cost effective.

I run a $200 Tascam CD player with an optical link to a good DAC.  Digital data is reliably transported.  That's why we like it.   The difference is all in the DAC.   All CD and DVD players have one built-in, but they are typically pretty cheap.  They sound OK, but taking a direct digital feed from a cheap player to a good DAC will give you very happy results.

"why a 75 dollar blue ray smokes all 2k CD players and any turntable???"
This might be true, if digitally connected a mediocre multichannel receiver with really bad phono-in.

A   "75 dollar blue ray " is some cheap mechanic - which mainly works or does not - and a DAC with powersupply.
The DAC chip will convert internally to 1 or 4 bit, because that is what cheap Delta-Sigma DAC chips fo. This does not make too much damage, given that the tiny tiny powersupply is not giving consistent support allowing for a proper tonality.
The better mastering of the Blue Ray Disk might sound better than the loudnesswar mastered CDs OLSCHOOL usually listens to, though.

@rodman99999 
Elitists are so tedious.

Loudspeakers do distort the most however modern drivers with symmetrical magnet systems and have distortion that is magnitudes lower any mass market driver. Also of note is that driver distortion is primarily 2nd harmonic which is far less objectionable than higher order odd harmonic. In my system the digital playback was for the longest time the limiting factor as all of the speakers I have had for the last 20 years have been types with vanishingly low distortion. When the system is up to par the quality of the source is paramount. When there are lots of compromised component choices you are just shuffling cards around. 

In reality this is the oldest argument there is but with a fresh twist. You can not tell crap when its played through a poor setup.

There are too many variables and the speaker is in part creates the most distortion vs digital or amplification. My $2kdenafrips Pontus R2R dac destroys Any blu ray or other digital products as far as a natural detailed balance ,
there is much better then that ,if you want to spend more, no crappy Blu-ray single bit $100 or $1k 
comes close that I know as the truth ,I owned the best Oppo205  Blu ray players 
and not even close in musical fidelity. If you are good with a $75  blu ray player 
that’s your business ,to me I expect much more then that,
land quality,cable types and power cords absolutely  help Taylor the preferred tonal balance you may be after .I owned a Audio store for 10 years and had $$
of toys to experiment with, and many esoteric mods that help a system further
everything counts .

My overall understanding of contributions of audio components is as follows:
100% = Perfect reproduction of music 
1. Speaker = 60%
2. Listening room geometry = 30%
3. Pre/Main Amps = 5%
4. Source (CD, vinyl, etc.) =4%
5. Connection (speaker cable, etc.) 1%
No matter how expensive any special speaker cable (used $50 18-AWG vs >$500), yes, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE, but the difference is maximum of 1% improvement to an overall system.
My audio room is much better than that of my local audio store (very reputable, honest). Last year, the store gave a demonstration playing ca. $12,000 KEF speaker and ca. $10,000 mono block tube amps. Right after the demo, I listened to my system, no significant difference in terms of emotional feeling. Even my system played better, I thing, due to better room geometry (wider, bigger and higher).
I sold a tube phono stage (ca. $4,000, brand new price) to an AudioGon member last year. Why? Frankly speaking, I could not heat any significant difference between the phono stage and my vintage Onkyo P-304's phono stage.
My conclusion: Speaker and room condition matter most!

I tried a Blu Ray player for audio, and was pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded.  I removed it and went back to my better sounding CD player.
My speakers are good enough to tell the difference between amps and pre-amps, and especially between a hundred dollar Blu Ray and a very good, be it modest CD player.

My upper scale Audire amps and preamps are far from state of the art by today's standard, but they have no trouble out shining my old NAD, Bryston, Sumo, and Phase Linear amps.
Still, I coud get used to the BluRay if I had to, and I would enjoy it immensely, as I pined for my old one.

Reasonable statement — speakers are the most imperfect link in the chain; followed by questionable opinion — all decent electronics sound the same. One is just a fact of physics and one ignores differences in people’s hearing perceptions and preferences. Sound preference is not a matter of moral principle. I can prefer a particular amp on my favorite speaker without participating in some nebulous “scam.” 

I have not had the long list of components that some people have had. However I can tell you what I have experienced:

A few years ago I swapped my Bose 901s for a pair of Magnepan 1.7i speakers.
HUGE difference

Marshall SS pre-amp --> Aric Audio Tube Pre-amp
Very big difference

ifi nano DAC --> Cambridge NX
very discernable difference

Front channels of amp section of Yamaha home theatre system --> (used) Parasound HCA2200
Very discernable difference

The changes were always made piecemeal: One component at a time. This means that I was able to A/B that component with everything else remaining the same. Note: The cnanges happened in the order listed. I have had other components: A Carver and Sunrise amp, some New York Audio Labs tube gear; NAD and Sony CD players, but they were too long ago to be able to make comparisons. Also I did not keep the old equipment so I could not slice and dice different combinations.

I have not played with high end cables. I have upgraded my cables (zip speaker cables --> 12g  oxygen free copper; Standard power cords to $50 variety; Standard interconnect to upgraded cables (again $50/pair variety) The difference was negligible to barely discernable to my ears.

(Don’t get me started on digital cables: I have some expertise here, and think that spending more than $20 on them is nuts. Digital signal transfer does not work the same as analog.  A bit is a bit.  If you sense poor timing, get a better DAC)

Bottom Line: I agree whole heartedly that changing speakers far and away make the biggest difference. But I do not agree that swapping other components will not be audible or noticeable. I think he is probably right about CD transports -- see my comment about digital cables. I ditched (stored) my 600+ CDs a few years ago in favor of streaming. [44khz 16 bit digital is the same if the bits are stored on a disc or in the cloud)

As Mr. Schroeder indicated: " There will always be Chintziphiles". I know I'm in that class as I have never spent more than $1000 on any individual component. My listening space is sonically challanged, I have 20% hearing loss in my right ear and as much as I would love to pursue owning a reference level system, I am unable to earmark that level of expenditure, now that I am retired.

I do, however take exception to the initial premise of this thread. I have a second hand LG Blue Ray player and a 20 year old NAD C 520 CD player. They are both running through an okay Arcam DAC. The sound difference isn't night and day, but the NAD makes a superior sounding transport. Even the analog out of the NAD sounds better than the LG playing through the outboard DAC. 

I really prefer "budget limited stereo enthusiast" to "Chintziphile" as my moniker. I find that even entry level equipment, when properly partnered, can be gratifying. There is a sound difference as one goes up the audio food chain. I even found diminishing returns at my lower price points.

@pjr801,

'Junk In = Junk Out.Its nearly always the case of diminishing returns the further up the audio chain we go.'


Yes, but wasn't that the old 1980s Linn mantra that they nicked from the computer industry (gigo)?

With the advent of digital, distortion levels have been barely measurable.

Aren't mechanical transducers now the only existing parts of the audio chain where we can still measure distortion?

In particular - microphones,  cartridges, and loudspeakers.

I don't understand what kind of BD player is being written about.  Please list particular players.  I would like to investigate this.

@bgoeller  In a way you make my point. From tens of billions of sensoric bits/signals only a tiny (very, very tiny) portion is actually consciously processed, and an even a smaller portion makes it into memory.
Variation and certain patterns of variation create priority. They are "attention grabbers". Variation within fractale boundaries is generally experienced as pleasing. Imagine an oak tree with all leaves identical. Boaring. Then imagine one with natural variation of leave shapes (the underlying boundaries of variation of shape are exactly defined). Nicer. Then imagine a breeze come trough and introduce some movement. Interesting! That is what I tried to say. It is not my scientific field, but it would be interesting to formulate a hypothesis and experiment around this. Clearly we have all experienced that, for example, a perfectly measuring amp sounds not engaging, while a tube amp which measures worse wrt distortion delivers a most pleasing and engaging presentation. Of course, there are also amps which measure poorly and sound bad. I guess all I want to say that distortion by itself is not a good predictor of perceived sound quality. I would even speculate (!) that, when we introduce changes into our system and hear different details, this may not be the result of improved performance specs. Rather, it may be the result of differing emphasis (i.e., shifting fractal boundaries). But then again - how to test this? Anyway, it is my impression that many great sounding systems are much more musical instruments by themselves, rather than objective measuring/reproduction tools in a scientific sense. Musical instruments produce considerable distortion; within instrument-specific boundaries we call that sonic signature. And how else would you explain the preference of tubes and analog by so many music lovers?

Junk In = Junk Out.Its nearly always the case of diminishing returns the further up the audio chain we go.

Allyndrew, I think you are assuming a surround system which most of us do not like. I do have many Blu ray discs that sound great in just stereo PCM. But I think the visuals add a lot to it. For some psychological reason seeing the band makes it sound better.  

Roxy, in short yes but I am looking for a joint opinion that is very consistent. For instance the JC 1 is alway described as "effortless" which it certainly is. I am also talking about professional reviewers not an individual lay person. I would never trust an individual review unless I had consistently verified the reviewer's opinion on my own which admittedly is difficult to do. I approach every review with several grains of salt. Frankly, I never really pay attention until I am ready to buy something. As for the opinion of people here? I do not expect them to believe me in discussing the sound of something. What something sounds like is a personal issue. How something works on the other hand is not. Why an item should function and sound better is always open for discussion as these whys are very important when it comes to choosing equipment. Everyone has to add it up on their own. But if you choose equipment based on what a single or even group of lay persons says it sounds like you are asking for it. At that point it is always best to listen for yourself. This is particularly true of speakers.  

The best way, for me, to hear music is on a Blu-ray disc thru my Blu-ray Player. I think all music should be produced on a Blu-ray Disc, as a Blu-ray disc can properly hold all the information. Play the Eagles Farewell Tour 1 on a Blu-ray disc, in your Blu-ray Player through your audio system and this will certainly answer all your questions about Audio. The audio from a Blu-ray Disc is waaaaay beyond anything you will ever hear from a CD or Vinyl, providing the audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or 7.1, or Dolby Atmos

'If you read into the literature far enough you can frequently identify the truly great equipment. Examples are the Airtight PC 1 Supreme and the Parasound JC 1.
Trusting someone else's hearing is a sure recipe for disaster. "
mijostyn,
There seems to be a contradiction there. If you are believing that those two amplifiers are great based on written words, aren't you trusting someone else's hearing?

If you read into the literature far enough you can frequently identify the truly great equipment. Examples are the Airtight PC 1 Supreme and the Parasound JC 1. 
Trusting someone else's hearing is a sure recipe for disaster. Human sound processing was not designed for qualifying music but for locating danger. Music is like color. When shown a shade of blue, those of us that are not blue green color blind will identify the color as blue. When shown a variety of shades of blue one may prefer one shade over another. Others will prefer a different shade. Why do we have these preferences?
Music and sound are no different. We all prefer and listen to music differently from genres to parts of the audible spectrum. Even the descriptions we use to quantify music are vague at best, sometimes even meaningless. It usually comes down to, "mine is best." Of course it is. You designed your system based on what you want to hear which might not be what everyone else wants to hear. 
Assuming something performs it's job better because it looks better or costs a lot more is another common trap. Saying something sounds better because I say so is just a way to avoid asking or answering the question as to why this should be or admitting the existence of a glaring defect. It was designed by Alfred E. Newman but it's the best sounding because I say so. The Linn LP 12 is such an example. 
Yet there are systems that go beyond the usual and there are solid reasons for this. It is here that we can look for these reasons and try to implement them. The key is to look for the ones that have an explanation unlike cable elevators which do not. You want to puke? Take those $10K speaker cables apart and look what is inside. Just wire. Just wire in a pretty casing which does nothing other than look sharp. On the other hand, there are circumstances like high powered passive subwoofers, where 24 gauge wire is not going to cut it. Can't handle the current. 
The reasoned response has a better chance of being right than the emotional one.   

@aschuh
I Believe this misrepresents the situation. The 60bit capacity was determined by assessing the concious ability to determine if a string of letters was a word or not. And the author of this experiment and study, Moscoso del Prado, has clarified that this is NOT an upper limit.

The brain recieves and processes >10 Billion bits worth of information every second, the vast majority of which is processed subconciously, or autonomically.

Our brains are not smearing out detail in an effort to find variation.

I'm not against spending money lord knows I've spent plenty on gear. I like the hobby, I would like to see more people interested and in my opinion the way forward is with companies and designs that are looking to the future not the past. In my opinion, and before some get their panties in a wad it's only my opinion, the future isn't mega $$ cables and $5000 CD transports but self contained active speakers that need no more than an ethernet connection or a control box. There are old established and new cutting edge companies in Europe barging down this path. I have to agree with cd318 it's as if when I post my opinions people think I'm attacking them, sorry to deflate their ego but I don't care what they say I'm more interested in hopefully getting some to start looking and better yet listening to some of these new companies and technologies. 

Why is spending/buying frowned upon around here? Spending feeds others' families. Without buying, frequently useless, items like hi-fi stores close, factory workers get laid off, etc. Buy it, if you can. It is a hobby after all. An excuse for wasting money. So what if you get reamed from time to time? Why be proud of the hobby and then be against spending money on it?

Back to cables.

@robjerman,

’ +1 djones51 and cd318! Watch out for the mob carrying flaming torches!’


Yes, no doubt! I’d better rush to the tower and lock myself away fully armed alongside those other persistent troublemakers such as that notorious @kenjit.

However since most of this mob have a vested business interest in promoting high - end (ie high-priced boutique gear as opposed to high performance audio equipment) their opinions can hardly be unbiased.

Nothing said in the reply that the OP received has yet been refuted, just spurious counter claims.

The myriad defences to any perceived threat to their business interests may include any of these following deflection tactics:


Everyone’s ears are different. All rooms are different. Buy what you like.

You haven’t heard that particular piece of equipment, I have and I know it’s better so everyone else should buy it too.

It costs a lot more so it must be a lot better. You’d better buy it to be sure.

It’s a subjective and fun hobby - so keep spending.

Blind listening tests are flawed. All of them. They cannot be trusted.
Listen to me instead and buy product X (of which I just happen to luckily have in stock).

We don’t understand the mechanics or psychology of listening so we should not make defining judgements. So once again keep buying, you may get lucky.
Who knows? Who cares? (I don’t).

Look here, Stereopile / Hi-Fi What?? have posted a great review of this product I just happen to sell.
So what are you waiting for, go buy it?

Etc etc

-------

Without wishing to cast grave doubts upon the integrity of those who post here, it’s the experienced enthusiast/ consumer / user reviews and opinions that I’m mostly interested in.

Some professional reviewers do seem to operate as part of the advertising wing of the industry and unfortunately some posters here feel that forums are are a viable (and economic) means of free advertising.

Instead the rest of us can learn, share and learn some more whilst hopefully benefitting ourselves in the savings of time and money. Not to mention avoiding the all too many scams that plague this industry.

For sure these scams/business interests should never be dismissed too lightly. Let’s not forget that Noel Lee (Monster Inc) has managed to establish a near billion dollar company from selling cables.

Thankfully he doesn’t feel the need to post on here just how superior his cables really are.

If he did, we might just ask him to demonstrate it.

Grannyring said:
  "If you folks believe that, then you have not actually done the listening tests. In addition, why would you even be interested in this site or even this hobby/passion?"

There were many other good rebuttals to the OP's post, but I think this pretty much says it all...   

Vinyl sounds superior in many ways. I don’t know about anyone else, but I can hear the difference. I will give up my turntables when I’m dead. Like Tom from better records says, a cd will never ever have that "tubey magic" of a good vinyl pressing, not verbatim, but you get the point. If you have no idea what you are doing then yes, your vinyl will sound like crap. Concerning speakers, there are many many great sounding speakers available today, both inexpensive and expensive. No one speaker is going to appeal to everyone. That’s what makes the hobby fun. Concerning cd players, I’ll leave the blu ray player, an oppo 203 by the way, to its purpose built duties, playing my dvd and 4k DVDs within my dedicated theater set up. Personally I like using a cd transport with my choice of dac.

I find it amazing that all it takes is for some people to find something someone else wrote that validates their point of view and all of a sudden, it's gospel!

Happens all the time in other areas of life so why not audio. Whatever happened to listening for ones self? I prefer not to be led but to hear things for myself.

Those who need the validation of others to shore up support of their doubts, which they confuse with convictions, always project those insecurities on others, be it confirmation bias, delusion, or whatever popular meme is being used at the moment.

All the best,
Nonoise

"...why was Oppo 105,205 the worlds most in demand dvd,Blu-ray player ,until they decided to stop building them. For the dac inside absolutely counts for sonics."

Because people like feeling they are getting a lot for relatively little. As far as I can tell, after years of frequently trying to use Oppo 105, it is jack of all trades and master of none.

If only my refrigerator would freeze ice as successfully as Oppo freezes itself.

couldn't agree less