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.
You have a AES/EBU output on your Cary, right? It looks like an awesome player. I can't imagine that you'll get much improvement from a new transport if yours is functioning properly and you're using the same type of input/output. That's a total guess on my part. I assume you have experimented with cables? |
@howardlee I have been going back and forth for years on what to do for SACD playback. Would like to upgrade from my Oppo 105D. Newer DAC's have to be better than the Oppo that was released 12 years ago. First considered Esoteric, then recently the Shanling ONIX Zenith XST20 transport. The Esoteric's are excellent but very pricey. The ONIX Zenith does NOT do gapless playback. So now I'm considering the PS Audio PerfectWave SACD transport. Seems like a no-brainer to get a factory-certified unit directly from PS Audio at 50% off. Then you can pair it with a I2S compatible DAC. I'm probably going with the Garlubidor Divinity. Please let me know how you like the PS Audio transport! |
