Looking for a cd transport in the 5k range: Jay’s Audio CDT3 MK3 or Pro-Ject RS2T?

Teac/Esoteric/Tascam make the best CD drives on the planet period. Some one mentioned the Teac already I’d look for one of those or a used Esoteric. Even a Tascam with the VRDS drive would be a good buy as you won’t pay the audiophile tax.  From my understanding there is three companies making CD drives for CD players and another two making them for computer drives. So what ever you get is going to have one of those, regardless of the packaging. Teac/Esoteric is one of those three by the way,There is a reason many of the hi end CD palyers used Teac VRDS drives in them before Teac stoped supporting that market. 

@roxy1927 

Bottom line: for what you want to spend and given your concern about longevity, your best option still appears to be purchasing the Jay’s CDT2MK3 along with a spare drive. I know, you can't send it back but of the alternatives suggested here, how many of those are available with a return policy? Perhaps the Teac. But can you also get a spare drive for it? 

I have a Jay's CD3MkIII and a Teac 701t. I like them both and they sound very similar if not identical through a Berkeley Audio Reference II MQA. However, they are different in some important ways that you may want to consider. BTW I have not heard the Project transport but I didn't consider it due to the rreported problems.

I've had several transports and I expect these two to be my endgame. The single most important factor for me was the manufacturer of the drive mechanism. I had an absolute disaster with a PS Audio transport ($4k retail) that used a cheapo computer drive that repreadedly failed. Junk. I'll never make that mistake again.

Here are some considerations about both transports.

Jay's CD3MkIII

1. Top loader. This may or may not be a positive depending on your gear layout. I like the top loading feature.
2. The best Phillips drive ever made. It will probably last a lifetime but Jay's has an inventory of spares if you need one.
3. Built like a tank and a joy to use. This piece of gear just oozes quality.
4. It upsamples by 4X if you want it to do that. Depending on your DAC's filter scheme that may lead to better sound.
5. The unit dithers the 16th bit and you cannot defeat this feature. This means that the transport will not decode HDCD disks (they will play fine but the DAC can't decode the HDCD). I have several hundred HDCDs so that's a problem for me. This is the reason I got the Teac as a second transport.

Teac 701T

1. Front loader. Built well. Mechanism is quiet and smooth.
2. My Berkeley DAC will decode HDCD disks and this trasport plays them no problem.
3. The 701T will also play MQA disks (my Berkeley decodes these also). I have bought a couple dozen disks of this format and mostly they sound very similar to their regular counterpart but with some titles there is a big difference (improvement). It may be in the mastering but whatever - it's important to me to have this capability.
4. The Teac VRDS drive is one of the best ever made and if yours ever fails they will have a replacement.

If I had to live with one of these I would go with the Teac because of the capability to play HDCD and MQA disks.

So people find sound quality equally good on both these units. Is a coaxial output comparable to an AES?

roxy1927

The best transports I've ever heard are the Jay's Audio units; I will upgrade my Audiolab 6000CDT, and it will most likely be the $2,600 CDT-2 MkIII......I compared it to the $5,100 CDT-3 and I could barely tell the difference between them (not saying you couldn't)

Jay's Audio dealer is Alvin Chee at Vinshine Audio (who also supplies Kinki Studios, Laiv Audio, Choco Studio, LHY, and Volumio.....also formerly Denafrips before they went direct to consumer). I've dealt with Alvin several times over the last 6 years or so, and he is an EXCELLENT dealer, and very responsive.