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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. 

kjl1065
faustuss's avatar
faustuss
837 posts
 

@jfrost27 

"I recently purchased a McIntosh MCT500 transport. It replaced my 17 year old MVP871 AV player. I went through Audio Classics as they offered a really good trade value for my old player against the price of the new player. I’m a McIntosh guy all the way so the new one was always going to be a McIntosh. I love the new player.  You should check it out. But my main point here is to check out the trade value of your old unit. It might surprise you."

+1

@brianbonf 

"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."

+1

@kjl1065 

I have a McIntosh MCT80 transport and MDA200 DAC. I'll have this combo for the duration!

 

 

 

philjpetersen
3 posts
 

Dang.  That's a lot of scratch for a jewel encrusted shiny disc elevator. Does it come with a smoking jacket too?

facten
3,124 posts
 

@kjl1065  If you do decide to move to a separate pure transport I'd suggest that you find out if one of the transport's outputs has been optimized and then use that one to connect to your Weiss or whichever DAC you are using to ensure that you are maximizing the SQ.  I traditionally used SPDIF but after purchasing a Simaudio 260DT a couple of years back for my 2nd system I contacted them and was told the AES/EBU was optimized. The SQ improvement when I switched over was noticeable. 

facten
3,124 posts
 

@philjpetersen  Do you have some credible transport upgrade recommendation that you'd care to share? 

jimmyblues1959
232 posts
 

@tuberist +1 

I recently purchased an SMSL PL200T transport to use with a second system which I use for both audio streaming as well as CD playback: Amazon Fire HD 8 plus, Schiit Modius AKM, Schiit Lokius, Naim Nait50 and KEF Reference Series Model 101 speakers. 

The PL200T is quite good and built like the proverbial tank. Its all aluminum chassis is beautifully finished and also offers a clock input for further accuracy. IMHO, spending more than the $500 for this CD transport will not get you better performance.  👍

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