Entry Level Transport


A couple of entry level transports I've been considering
List is biased for I can get these at staff purchase where I work.....

Pioneer DV-563A (DVD-Audio / SACD) I know this one isn't truly decoding SACD its downconverting it to PCM but the quality is still supposed to be quite good for the money).

Harman Kardon DV25 (Wolfson 192kHz/24-bit DAC...)

Harman Kardon HL8380 (5 Disc with HDCD® Processing : Burr Brown® PCM1732 -- Dual 18-Bit DAC)

Currently using a Pioneer DV-353 which is slowly dying.
Any thoughts? All of these will end up in the 2-300 CDN rangish
vaystrem

Showing 1 response by vaystrem

.. Should have put this in the initial post.

The Pioneer I am considering because I have heard it is a decent transport and down the road I can certainly add an external DAC to it.

The HK 5 Disc CD player atleast has HDCD decoding on it but it is extremely sensitive to vibrations so i will be getting a platform for it and probably eventually get an external dac as well.

The HK DV25 I thought had a better DAC than the CD player and most likely the Pioneer and in the price point I've been reasonably impressed with the build quality, even if the remote is horrible.

If there is another entry level transport that I should be considering (with future addition of a DAC [mmm bel canto]) please let me know.

A DVD player so I can replace my existing pioneer would be nice, but a standalone CD player is fine as well.