Best Buy or Good Value in a Transport CD

Theta data's II's are going for that now. Funny how all the stuff that was state of the art back when the delta was really good for the money are now really good for the money.

I have briefly owned a Cal Delta and was not very happy with it. I have a Parasound CBD-2000 which I have been very happy with. Parasounds are no longer made but are available used for $5-700. In another system, I have recently bought a Sony SCD-e555es changer and found that for a changer, it also performs well as a cd transport. The Sony is available new for $600. It also will play SACD's but not thru it's digital output. While I have only compared the Parasound directly to the Cal; going from memory, I would also prefer the Sony over the Cal.

I would be looking at some of the used DVD players, I use a Pioneer DV 09 as both DVD player and transport, remarkable, IMHO. A lot of the big DVD/CD players of the last few years drop dramatically in price with the technology changing everyday, My Pioneer DV 09 was $2500 as recently as 18 months ago, I bought it last Thanksgiving for $300 because it did not have progressive scan, which the previous owner decided he had to have. Panasonic 1000 is another that comes to mind. These are large stable units weighing over 20+ pounds, which I believe helps. I have also used large laser disc players(CLD 52 comes to mind) as transports with excellent results, and for around $100 used they are a steal, just not sexy. For what is worth I have owned a # of CD players/DACS in the last few years, most do not sound as good as these later generation high end DVD players, again, thats in my opinion. Good luck

You could pick up a used CAL Icon MkII (the standard version) and use it as a transport. If eventually you go for a new one box unit, you will then have a good backup player and/or a source for a second system.

When used as a transport only, I prefer the Icon II over the Delta (fuller bass, but otherwise pretty much the same sound), though the bass may only be due to the heavier chassis.

The Theta Universal and the Pearl are tempting @ the top or slightly over your budget, but I have read that their drives can no longer be replaced/repaired.

I think that some of the old CAL EE's may still do repairs, but they would have to charge a lot less than CAL did towards the end. I inquired about the HDCD/Boss upgrade on my unit and for the price quoted I could have purchased a slightly used HDCD model for the same $ amount.

Also, what are the symtoms on the Delta as it may be something that you can repair yourself? I never took apart the Delta (as it was on loan), but the Icon looks fairly easy to work on.

I replaced the laser transport mech in my Delta and had it modified by Dan Wright at ModWright. Total cost including shipping was about 500. Couldn't be happier.