Best sounding CD player

The DAC is 80% of the SQ......so get a Denafrips Ares2 for $800 and the Audiolab 6000CDT transport only $600 and for $1400 you’ve got the SQ of a much more expensive all in one unit.....If you want an even better value in SQ....do the Audiolab transport with the Audio Mirror Toubadour IV SE from Vlad for $3500 and now your playing with the Big Boys + 10K

@mbmi    You're not going to get $10K+ SQ with a $600 transport. Had a Cambridge CXC ,which is in the same playing field as the Audiolab , as the source for either a Mojo Audio EVO or a Modwright Elysee pretty decent sound. Switched to a SimAudio 260DT transport $2800 and a whole different level of SQ. Read the Forums on the Project &  Jay's Audio Transports - significant improvements in SQ delivered vs these lower entry transports.

Facten,

You are correct that a Jay’s CDT-2 (at a cost of $2,500) or a CDT-3 (at a cost of $5,000), are better than the Audiolab 6000CDT. But where does it stop? The Audiolab is a really really good transport for the money, and punches way above it’s price…..as do Denafrips DACs

You are correct that a Jay’s CDT-2 (at a cost of $2,500) or a CDT-3 (at a cost of $5,000), are better than the Audiolab 6000CDT. But where does it stop?

Where does it stop?

That is totally up to the consumer. We all have our individual budget ceilings and good choices exist at multiple price points. Cambridge and Audiolab represent very good value options.
 

However @facten is exactly right, much better is available among CD transports for a higher cost. In my opinion the Jay’s Audio CD transports and the Pro-Ject RS2T mentioned above also represent excellent value at their higher cost given the increased sound quality they are capable of. There’s something for everyone.

Charles

Well I have a sonic frontier  dac and transport three with an out board power supply it is one of the best five cd playback systems  I have ever heard most of that group of five systems  have the ultra analog  chip set in them. They all retailer for over 20 k in the day. One level down are top of the line play back systems  that have 63k dac sets in th I have both a wadia and a krell with those dac chips and I used to own a ead  with those dac chips. They are all in the 10k at retail price range back in the day.any will not agree with me but I have not found any streamer that comes close in sound quality.  It may be the streamer I have heard or it may be the cheaper play back systems  that others are comparing  to streaming  or partly both.