My vote goes to the Krell DT10 CD transport, it left me absolutely gobsmacked upon first powering it up. Previous to this i was using a Theta Data Basic, which is not a cheap & nasty transport. However there was such a difference between the Krell & Theta that it'd honestly make you think that the Theta had something wrong with it Except it didn't, i had a new CDM9 Pro drive fitted to the Theta less than a year before When i first bought the Theta (secondhand) it had a slight problem with certain CDs though it played 99% of my collection perfectly, with the new laser assembly it played everything perfectly....
I know that there really shouldn't be a lot of difference between something costing 5 times as much new when the cheap transport is already a couple of thousand pounds when new. Yet the difference was night & day All my friends simply couldn't believe the difference compared to the Theta either, it was just as obvious to them Maybe subtle differences, but not what was being heard...
Like anyone i'd seriously hate paying out 5 figures for a CD player or transport as i'm not exactly rich, however, i can see or should i say hear why people do so score.gif
Bests, Mark
"We must believe in free will. We have no choice" Isaac Bashevis Singer
Location: Lancaster(-ish), UK
Posts: 16,937
I'm ChrisB.
I thought it must be just that his Caiman stopped burning in........
**** Catch the Spirit of a True ΩPIONEER ****
♥Mamotte Shugogetten Fan♥
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamotte_Shugogetten
"John"
i've read about, and have been told many times
about performing this mod on vintage CDPs,
so i guess that there has been a good deal of OP-AMP IC
advances in the last twenty years?
it's hard for me to imagine the sound of this player getting any better
than it already is, but i figure that so much universal agreement of opinion
regarding the stock OP-AMPs of vintage CDPs can't possibly be wrong...
**** Catch the Spirit of a True ΩPIONEER ****
♥Mamotte Shugogetten Fan♥
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamotte_Shugogetten
"John"
Tasuke, if you carefully remove the output op-amps (not too difficult to identify but quite a job to get the PCB out), then replace them with turned-pin DIL sockets, you can op-amp roll to your heart's content. I seem to remember using something like OPA-627 back then but there are better choices now. Trust me, it was a significant improvement over the standard fit op-amps.
actually, pulling the PCB is unnecessary on this player,
as the bottom plate of the chassis is removable,
allowing direct access to the full solder side of the PCB.
all told, if i ever do get this mod done, i'll have it done professionally.
though i know how to solder, i don't really have the balls
to work on a RARE in the U.S. CDP that cost me a total of $610.00 U.S.D.
anyway, i received the CDP from FEDEX just fine yesterday;
full story found here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7210
**** Catch the Spirit of a True ΩPIONEER ****
♥Mamotte Shugogetten Fan♥
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamotte_Shugogetten
"John"
Lovely. I do miss mine a lot. The looks are killer 1980s and even the drawer mechanism is very slick.
HRT Music Streamers; any model, depending on your budget.
I've tried out 7 sub £500 Dacs and can't find anything i prefer.
Single spur balanced Mains. Self built music server with 3 seperate linear PSU, Intel i5, 16 GB RAM no hard drive (various Linux OS). Benchmark Dac2 HGC, single ended XLR interconnects/Belkin cable. Exposure 21RC Pre, Super 18 Power (recap & modified). Modded World Audio HD83 HP amp. Hand built Monitors with external crossovers , Volt 250 bass & ABR, Scanspeak 13M8621 Mid & Scanspeak D2905/9300 Hi. HD595 & Beyer 880 (600 ohm) cans.
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.
-Bertrand Russel
John.