I purchased the Shanling ET3 transport and have been extremely happy with it. Check out the reviews online and youtube. You will not be disappointed.
Looking To Upgrade to a new CD Transport
I currently own a Cary 306/200 cd player which I have had for 15 years. For the last 5 years have been using the Cary as a transport only with a stand alone DAC, which were the Chord Qutest and then the Weiss 204. The retail cost of the Cary CD player was about $5000.00. It is a well built machine. My question is have the transports been improved over the last 15 years. I stream often, but I still listen to cd's. Would purchasing a new transport improve my sound. My maximum budget is $5000.00 new only. Is a move that I am contemplating, a move sideways or would a new transport make a discernable difference in sound improvement. Thank you.
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I was in a similar position. I wanted a high quality transport that was sonically superior to a vintage Conrad Johnson DV-2b that I’ve had for years. I wanted something that would last me the next 10-20 years. I enjoy listening to CDs and R2R tapes. I recently purchased the Jays Audio CDT2 MK3. For the short time I’ve had the unit, it has met all of my expectations. It’s built like a tank and sounds amazing. With your budget, you could opt for the CDT3 MKT3. You can even purchase an additional plug-n-play transport. IMO, the Jays transport is a true sweet spot in modern transports. Like CJ, it just sounds right… |
@ctlesq agreed. That's what I had to do. Streaming is a compelling choice. Roon + RS130 is one option. But not if the internet fails. |
Consider a Luxman CD player The DAC is tuned to an analog sound that is a nice relief to streaming. I listen 10 to 1 Streaming to cd and really enjoy the cd/sacd experience. Albert at Precision audio has a Luxman a little above your budget. https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisbi1fe-luxman-d-08u-cd-sacd-players cheers and thanks for keeping CD alive. |
I doubt you will have an improvement, maybe a subtle change. I tried a Jay’s audio cdt2 but there was no improvement over my oppo udp203. Usually the transport has to be good enough, then what matters is the DAC. IMHO, digital sounds mostly the same on all devices: for instance my MSB discrete DAC sounds very similar to my Oppo’s DAC, and I have reference system. If a streamer does not introduce too much jitter, than what matters is the DAC reclock and DAC power supply and its IV conversion more then the DAC chip or technique. Speeding the money on a better streamer? It depends on personal preference: I prefer to play digital discs, SACDs, cds, etc. I would buy a CDT2 or 3 because I like the and I like to use them, I love their top loading system, but I would not fool myself into thinking they are better than my ‘cheap’ Oppo, which can play any format and I can also use it in my home theatre. I also like the Magnetar, but I would use its internal DAC and sell my very expensive DAC. Luxman, Esoteric and Accuphase are the top, but you will have to find them used or avoid the reference models. Regarding if your Internet connection goes does, you can still stream music from your Roon server if you have digital files. You could start converting your CDs, personally I find it very boring :-) |
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