Interesting question. There are so many opinions on transports ranging from "they're all the same- bits are bits" to "a better transport with a cheaper dac will outperform a poor transport and a better dac." I've owned several excellent CD players in the 5k-10k range, but the Cambridge CXC is the first transport I've owned. I bought it refurbished on Ebay for about $350 and I would highly recommend it if you can get it at that price. I have no experience with other transports, but a number of people with ears I respect have touted the sonic superiority of the better transports, so I don't think you would be wasting your money if you bought a Moon or a Jay's or whatever. That said, as you have no frame of reference, it might be more fun to go with the CXC or Audiolab in order to establish a sonic baseline and then later move up the chain. I think either transport is capable of letting you enjoy your dac to a high degree and you can upgrade later. Just don't forget you also need a good digital cable.
Audiolab 6000cdt or Simaudio Moon 260DT (transport only)
Hey guys,
I am wondering which transport to use to feed my MHDT Labs Orchid DAC? The Audiolab is $549 and the Moon is $2000. I'm OK spending more if it's worth the money. How different can transports really sound? Is the price difference more due to higher quality materials and better warranty? If you A/B'd them, would you really hear much of a difference in sound? I know sometimes equipments sound a bit different but not necessarily better. I have a pretty high end system so I don't want to scrimp on my main input source and yet I don't want to waste money that I could be buying more music with. Thanks for your opinions and help!
I am wondering which transport to use to feed my MHDT Labs Orchid DAC? The Audiolab is $549 and the Moon is $2000. I'm OK spending more if it's worth the money. How different can transports really sound? Is the price difference more due to higher quality materials and better warranty? If you A/B'd them, would you really hear much of a difference in sound? I know sometimes equipments sound a bit different but not necessarily better. I have a pretty high end system so I don't want to scrimp on my main input source and yet I don't want to waste money that I could be buying more music with. Thanks for your opinions and help!