All-In-One Options

+1 @audphile1 

I’m considering Shanling SCD3.3 SACD player as a Cd/SACD transport as other SACD transports seem to be more expensive players that can be used as transports.  Can also use the SCD3.3 as a Cd/SACD player whose Sonics are very good.  

One brand that many buyers in the US ignore is T+A, which is one of the most respected audiophile manufacturers in Europe and parts of Asia.  Its $8K-ish DACs are superb, providing distinct circuitry & signal paths for DSD & PCM streams. 

Last year, when shopping for a mid-level audiophile integrated -- $15-$30K range -- I discovered the R 2500 R, a 2025 "receiver" based on the latest iteration of T+A's higher-end DACs and clever power-supply design -- a true Class A/B that weighs more like a Class D.

I've had my unit for about a year and am still thrilled with the overall SQ, connectivity, & functionality.   Its bundled DAC/streamer/clock benefits from all the advantages of an integrated form factor -- no external cabling, no external-clock/sync/jitter issues, etc.  It's extraordinarily flexible, doing double-duty in my system as the driver of the front channels of a home theater.  It even offers FM/NAB/Internet radio.

But to your point, it also includes a CD transport.  Again, you get all the advantages of a single integrated DAC/digital-source form factor.

For some reason, TAS has chosen not to review many T+A products other than speakers, and Stereophile's ostensibly rave review was, um, a bit superficial. (Something that I think the senior staff agreed with, since it's already had two follow-ups.)  T+A now has a robust distribution presence in North America and I can verify personally that its customer service is some of the best I've found.  As far as retailers, Bliss HiFi in Minneapolis offered terrific pre-sales support.  That was my journey.

When I bought my unit, it cost about $19,000, but with tariffs & inflation, it may now be over $20K.  But if, as you say, price is not important, you owe it to yourself to at least take a closer look at this model, or perhaps some of T+A's lower-end receivers. (FWIW, T+A considers any integrated that has radio capabilities and a disc transport to be a "receiver.")

I had a lot of requirements, so many that I found only 2 or 3 products on the market that could satisfy them -- Ayre and maybe Hegel most prominently.  The R 2500 R handled them all with aplomb and provided sound quality that is arguably in a higher class than, say, an EX-8. These days, the digital portion of my stereo portion consists solely of the T+A, some better WireWorld cables, an SACD player, and speakers.

Unlike some earlier comments, if you can deal with having an external SACD transport, you won't have to "sacrifice sound quality."  I can discuss my personal experience -- including an excruciatingly anal half-year shopping experience -- with this product.

@audphile1 

You said "Know that SACD cannot be output to external DAC unless you use something like D.BOB."

Don’t want to sound like a know-it-all, but I’ve been hearing this for years and, um, it’s not true.  Yes, there is a copy-protection requirement built into the SACD spec that blocks S/PDIF digital outputs from transmitting high-res signals. That’s where I believe the confusion comes from.

However, you CAN output 96 & 192K digital signals from an SACD player to an external DAC through HDMI, which includes its own content-protection protocol, thus satisfying the constraints of the SACD spec.

I know this for a fact because I’m doing it myself. Right now.

And before anybody throws up their hands and shouts "HDMI? On a DAC?", I need to mention that very good HDMI-equipped  DACs do exist. One of which is the one in the T+A R 2500 R receiver (and other T+A products I believe, all of which implement  DSD-optimized decoders) that I mentioned in my last posting.  There are also some good SACD transports that offer HDMI output, even the old $599/$1199 Oppo models.

So although D.BOB has a good reputation among users whose gear lacks HDMI connectivity, anyone purchasing new gear today is not locked by the SACD spec into buying one more box & cables.

@cundare2 96 and 192? That’s not DSD. What you’re seeing on that output as 96 and is most likely the redbook layer of the SACD album that is being upsampled by your transport. 
There are only few SACD transports that output DSD. PS Audio is one of them and needs to be connected via I2S cable (hdmi cable but not hdmi signal) to their PS Audio DAC. Because there’s no industry standard for I2S the pin layout varies and the transport is not always compatible with another brand DAC unless you can customize the pinout on the DAC or transport which some manufacturers provision for. 
Another transport That outputs DSD over PCM (DoP) is the shanling onyx zenith. Looks to be a really well made nice transport. And it’s not crazy expensive. 
I am curious about it as my Meitner DAC can accept DoP on its AES input. 

@audphile1 

I don’t want to turn this into a thing, especially since you seem to be uncharacteristically knowledgeable about the topic, but I beg to differ. I’ve written extensively on the topic in the 2000s mainstream press myself.

I don’t disagree with your basic statements. But I don’t think I claimed to be transferring native DSD to the R 2500 R through HDMI. Maybe my earlier posting was vague. I don’t think the T+A even reads DSD data over HDMI/DTCP.  It accepts DSD only via the network or through its USB inputs.

So to be clear, I’m  transferring 24-bit SACD data as stereo PCM, sampling rates up to 176.4KHz, over HDMI.  This is not upsampled 44.1/16 Red book content, but was converted by the transport from the Scarlet Book DSD.

As further confirmation of this, I’m able to play content, identified by the receiver itself as hirez, retrieved from non-hybrid SACDs -- that is, discs that have no Red Book layer.

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