A good cd transport for my Chord HugoTT2 DAC with Chord M-Scaler

Audiolab makes some dedicated transports that punch above thier weight.   The 6000 CDT has been highly recommended here.  Check the Audiolab site for the 6000 and 9000 units.  Cheers.

@toronto416 - I wouldn’t say it’s “crazy” to use the Luxman as a transport, but you might end up driving yourself crazy comparing the Luxman to the Chord. That’s fine if you enjoy it, but for me, it’s a distraction to be switching back and forth. But who knows, you may end up selling the Chord. As for transports, there are several lengthy threads if you do a search. I have a. CEC TL5 and like it, but I haven’t compared it with any other similarly-priced options. 

I am quite happy with my CDT 6000, especially with upgraded iso devices, PC and coax cable, BUT, am budgeting for the new Shanlings

Though Audiolab and Cambridge make very capable transports (I have CXC2 in my 3rd system), I am looking for a very robust higher end transport (or CDP) to replace a Simaudio Mood 260d - something overbuilt in the best high end audio tradition.

A Luxman D-03x or a D-07x would fit the bill - they are built like tanks and are probably very capable on their own and wouldn't need an external DAC for several years - and could serve as transports for many years after that...  But it would be fun to compare to the Chord products...

Well if you want overbuilt, and you're also talking about a DAC, look at the Esoteric line up.  Big dollars but no one builds anything like it.  IMHO

That is a very serious looking drive - thank you!

Here in Canada Esoteric has a very small dealer network presence, much less than Accuphase which in turn has less of a presence than Luxman.  Both Esoteric and Accuphase are overpriced compared to Luxman,  and Luxman seems to have more extensive distribution and dealer support.  I'm not sure how that compares to the US market.

Jay’s Audio CDT2 Mk3 is very highly regarded…

https://www.beatechnik.com/product-page/cdt2-mk3

As a fellow Torontonian at least we have Esoteric and Accuphase dealers amongst quite a few other high end options to audition and chose from in our own back yard. I have a knack for investing heavily out dated technologies but restrained myself recently and decided not to invest in replacing my 20 year old pioneer elite CD player that is still going strong…spent the funds on streaming and have no regrets.

Pro-ject also have a well regarded player RS2 often compared to Jays that may be worth looking into.

ProJect has had significant reliability issues that are worth considering.

Why not look at the Rotel RCD-1572MKII I own 3 of the RCD-1572 originals + a Sim Audio Moon 360D and the newer model 1572MKII is even better or if money is not that big of a concern you can try the new Rotel Diamond Series DT-6000 CD Transport.$2299.99 vs the Rotel RCD-1572 at $1199.99

Yamaha cd-s1000

I've owned Rotel,Vincent, Cambridge CXC,and at present a Jays Audio. The Jays was a huge upgrade in SQ.Huge.I was considering the Audiolab until I saw a used Jays at a good price and took a chance.I thought the CXC was good enough but when the drawer began to malfunction it was time to try something new.One of those cases where the hype is true.

I would say based on my testing, the Jay’s is the best I have heard. I have had the Ayon here which is also quite good.  I have had the Luxman here and believe it is far better as a transport.  The DAC in it was underwhelming for the price IMO but ai suppose my opinion is worth what you paid for it.  
 

the new Bricasti M19 is supposed to be insanely good but ai have not heard it yet.  At some point I will get one of those as a permanent device for my system.  
 

With SACD, I am not 100% certain you can get a DSD signal into chord due to copy protection. I think there needs to be a handshake between.

The other really good transports I am familiar with are hybrid streamer/server/CD like the Playback MPT-8 or the Rockna Wavedream NET.  They are excellent transports but wasteful if you dome’s need the streamer.  
 

full disclosure, I am a dealer who takes trades which is why I have heard so many of these.  I am a dealer for Bricasti, Playback and Rockna.  I have no relationship with Luxman, PS Audio, Ayon or Jay’s other than having taken product from them on trade. 

I have a Luxman-D06 cd player that I bought new in 2010 (when I also purchased a L-509u + Verity Audio Parsifal Ovation speakers).  After 6 or 7 years I used the D-06 as a transport, but as it has only a TOSLINK digital out I eventually replaced it with a Moon 260d transport which has a coaxial out. 

So just for fun this morning I put the D-06 in my second system which now consists of the L-509u integrated amp, Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers, and a PS Audio PP12 power regenerator.  To my surprise the D-06 sounded not bad at all!  In fact with one of the few SACDs that I own - Angella Hewitt playing the Chopin Nocturnes - the music sounded sublime.  Another factor may be some high frequency hearing loss in my almost 65 year old ears, but that is another story...

I will have to revisit using the D-06 as a transport using the optical out into my Chord dac.  My second system can benefit from upgrades to my main system as I consider a new digital source, but there is clearly some life left in the D-06.

Luxman was onto something in 2010, and I can only imagine how more than a decade later the D-07x and D-10x sound. 

I am very happy with the Verity Audio PO speakers and am greatly enjoying the L-595ASE amp in my main system.  But there is still one box missing on my main rack...

Depending on your price range, You can get an Audiolab 6000CDT that actually sounds good going into a good DAC. They also have a 9000CDT, for more money.  If your budget allows, check out PS Audio or Jays.  Jays is probably the best I’ve ever heard.

All the best.

I am seriously considering the Luxman D-10x to pair with my L-595ASE integrated amp driving my Verity Audio Parsifal Ovation speakers. 

Another excellent choice for playing Redbook CDs would be a Naim CDi.  I still have my late Dad's and it's a great sounding CD player which can be had for around a  $1000US in nice condition. Naim no longer repairs them but I believe that there are aftermarket companies that do. Best of luck with your search for a CD player. 👍

The Shanling ET3 has been a recent, well regarded choice.

Shanling ET3 CD Transport

Did you finally find what you are looking for.

Exact same situation here, moon 260d feeding a hugo mscaler and tt2.

I realized that the 260d is good but maybe is a bottleneck in my system. Absolutely no differences on the same songs switching from the 260d to an Aurender n150 streamer, so very strange….always thought a transport would be better than a stream. So 260d bottleneck ?

did you finally compare something to the 260d and what did you find out ?

The 260d + M Scaler + TT2 are now in a second system and sound fantastic.  I think that the 260d is a very capable transport.

For my main system I bought the Luxman D-10x CDP.  It was very expensive but it sounds sublime as a CDP and is built like a tank.  I am sure it will serve me well for many years as I still listen cds as opposed to streaming.

I may try an ifi Zen streamer into either the D-10x as a DAC or the M scaler/tt2 in my other system.

If you get a Zen Stream I highly recommend not using Wi-Fi (at the very least use a Wi-Fi extender or Mesh and run an Ethernet cable from that to the Zen) and getting an upgraded power supply. 

Thanks for the advice! I have a Tidal subscription but use it mostly in my car via Apple CarPlay - so I guess that is streaming from iPhone to the car’s audio system via Bluetooth - not the most audiophile approach, but hey, it’s a car...

I have tried streaming Tidal from my MacBook or iPhone into my Chord DAC, but it is not as good as cds. The missing link is something like a Zen streamer - or ’network bridge’.

I have tried streaming Tidal from my MacBook or iPhone into my Chord DAC, but it is not as good as cds. The missing link is something like a Zen streamer

Yeah, I totally get what you’re saying.  I started streaming with my iPhone and upgraded USB dongle from LavriCables to my DAC with Qobuz and was very disappointed that CDs sounded markedly better.  Then I added the Zen Stream (with their iPowerX power supply) and BAM — streaming was instantly as good or better than CDs and I was happy happy (sorry for the multiple Emeril references).  Just my experience FWIW.  

Thanks @soix.  That would be a good route for me to take to start streaming Tidal at home:  Zen Stream + iPowerX.  I see several used ones on CAM, and that makes it even easier to try.

I went from 260D to Jay's cdt2mklll. 

I don't know whether this is  technically accurate way to describe the difference I heard but it sounded like the Jay's simply gleaned more data from the disc. The difference was not subtle.

I'd be sorely tempted (pun intended) to acquire the cdt3mklll were it not for my aging back (it weighs 50 lbs).