Suggested CD transport?

Hi George,

Buy the same Marantz again. It's better the devil you know. My experience with buying a CD transport for the Lavry has not been rewarding. My latest attempt is a Cyrus CD8. It doesn't fare well as a transport with my Lavry. However it more than compensates as a stand alone player, easily surpassing my previous cdx2/xps2. I understand that others favour Meridian CD transports.

Keith

Dear Keith,

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Prices are not out of the way, just doing a quick hunt.

ATB from George

quote:

Originally posted by Keith L:
easily surpassing my previous cdx2/xps2.

Keith,

What is the rest of your system? Do you use the Cyrus with Naim amps?

Steeve

Hi,
I would demo Cyrus CD Xt SE, it looks very promising and has some interesting innovations...

quote:

Originally posted by Steeve:

quote:

Originally posted by Keith L:
easily surpassing my previous cdx2/xps2.

Keith,

What is the rest of your system? Do you use the Cyrus with Naim amps?

Steeve

Hi Steeve,

sb3/lavry/282/250.2/allae/nsub

Keith

Interesting. I presume you think they work well together. I did see a What Hi-fi review whilst browsing in our local W.H.Smith's library a while back which suggested a circa £1000 Cyrus CD player was 'different' rather than better or worse than their reference CDS3/555PS but of course I dismissed it as stuff and nonsense!

Apologies George for going off topic.

Steeve

Thanks for the replies. ATB from George

Dear George

Have you considered a WadiPod?



The Wadia iTransport is the first iPod dock to retrieve a direct digital signal from an iPod. As a result, the audio signal remains pure and unadulterated, providing CD-quality resolution from full-resolution WAV and Apple Lossless.

Might be OTT, but it creates a decent transport and you can use the iPod as an iPod should you need to.

ATB Rotf

Dear ROTF,

This looks a fascinating thing. But I shall persist with playing my CDs through a transport for the medium term. I shall save my pennies till I can get something fine in the Hard Storage domain, and I suspect that by then a large enough storage may be available in Solid State Hard [surely no longer Disc] Storage, and at a price that if not cheap will not make my eyes water.

I can play a slow game when I have a mind to, and in this case I do.

I suspect it is between a new Marantz recording machine and a Meridian transport as second hand in the interim.

Clearly the CD recorder allows for rare recordings of radio concerts, which occasionally are sublime in every sense, and the Meridian is an optimised piece for the job of transport and digital out ...

In any case I cannot spend a huge amount, particualrly as in these times, were I to end up out of work [again] it would be quite a task to land a job that did not grind me into the floor physically! Then listening to music can be ruined by sheer tiredness, and I would rather accumulate some financial fat, which should be possible this coming year if everything stays on an even keel with employment.

Cautious, perhaps, but not wrong headed I suspect.

ATB from George

George,

My rec:

Buy a 2nd hand Meridian 596 - outputs 2496 via the spdif.

Burn HiRes material to standard DVD.

M

A suggestion with fascinating implications!

And no doubt the model is more than capable of very fine results with normal CDs as well.

Another line to examine. Thanks from George

First I would highly recommend you try using the AES/EBU. My experience is that its just better. I have two units that have both types of outs and on an A/B test, the AES was just better.

On to your questions about transports. I have been itching as well. I have a CEC -51x and its pretty good but finicky.

Being as the Lavry accepts an upsampled digital signal, you might want to look at the Esoteric units.

Being as your willing to go second hand, you should also look at the Ayre and the Cary units.

Dear All,

I have looked on eBay and it is every bit as intimidating as it ever was - I am one hundred per cent certain that I shall never buy or sell anything on that page!

So really the obvious solution is a Marantz recording machine, which after all certainly has a dedicated digital out in respect of daizy chaining to recorders! I have found my 1999 machine is very fine as a transport as well as a very acceptable player in its own right.

As regards the complexity of AES/EBU and other add ons in terms of a Mac, these actually have next to interest for me as all I want is the quality possible with iTunes working on lossless files, which I have auditioned and found to be no impediment to enjoying the music, and for the cost actually remarkably fine VFM.

I am sure that there is potentially a marginal improvement for wandering round the mulberry bush, but that is for others!

I want to be able to bring my music in a Macbook with me if I visit friends or familly. And not load myself down with multiple boxes and wires. For example, I think my Norwegian aunt might well expect me to have a lap-top, but several boxes and extraneous wiring? I am sure she would regard that as bonkers!

It is apparent to me that buying a second hand Meridian transport is just the same as buying any other old laser mechanism. It may or may not be serviceable, and it may or may not therefore soon be seen as an expensive [even if bought at a significant discount from new price] white elephant.

So the solution in the next few months is a Marantz CD recorder, and eventually go for a Mac, hopefully far enough into the future for the HD element to be Solid State ...

ATB from George

Well its great to see your accepting of new ideas and technology. If Ebay is so overwhelming, you might want to try Audiogon.com.