Who listens primarily to Redbook CD?

If you’re looking for a dedicated CD Transport, I don’t think you’ll find a better one than the CEC TL5, for the money (around $2000). Here are a couple European reviews:

http://hifipig.com/cec-tl5-belt-drive-cd-transport/

http://www.tg-acoustics.com/tg-acoustics_Review_CEC%20TL5.pdf

I just wish it was easier to get the factory 120V version in the US. The North American distributor in Montreal (Pascal of Mutine Inc.) is semi-retired, and sometimes hard to get hold of. After I got in touch with him, I had to bank wire him payment (no credit cards). He then placed the order, and it was drop-shipped to me from Japan. It was worth the hassle, though. You can order a gray market one from Japan for cheaper, but it is the 100V version, and you have to use a wallwart power adapter. Pascal also orders it with the full size CD stabilizer, that covers the entire disc, rather than the smaller one that comes standard with the TL5. According to him, this makes a significant difference in the sound.

I like what Audio Note did. They listened to the available DAC chips and chose the Analog Devices AD1865 based purely on sound. When it was discontinued, they bought up all the remaining stock, so they wouldn’t be forced to change over to a sonically inferior one.

They are are currently working on an R2R DAC using discrete resistors, which, reportedly, sounds much better than the AD1865.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/TomBerry/0728b2915ce0892e44fe42934e521cd9_zpsmqay4v8m.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/TomBerry/b53e6cb9d8ac3cdf036c3da279a3b8d8_zpshk0zdrci.jpg

Why limit oneself to only one format?

Because you prefer to invest your limited resources in getting the best sound you can from one format, rather than mediocre sound from several.

Wish I had the talent & skills to do that 😕