Wanted: CD transport. Anything out there.

[montesquieu]

Preferably black (or funky) and sub £500.

[Stratmangler]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110699367847&clk_rvr_id=239420393266&item=110699367847&lgeo=1&vectorid=229508

[montesquieu]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110699367847&clk_rvr_id=239420393266&item=110699367847&lgeo=1&vectorid=229508

Call me shallow but looking for something a wee bit more impressive looking ... had one of these a zillion years ago.

[Stratmangler]

Call me shallow but looking for something a wee bit more impressive looking ... had one of these a zillion years ago.

Well it's black, funky and sub £500.
It's also a damned good transport.
However, if you want to listen with your eyes feel free.......

[goraman]

http://littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=823&sid=01961902df3801d56c7bab4de236c62a

[montesquieu]

Thanks Guys. Funnily enough, I CAN use Google, and eBay too for that matter. What I'm really looking for is if anyone on the forum has something, preferably near enough to collect this weekend.

[Ali Tait]

You could try giving a Squeezebox Touch a go. Well within your budget, and a lot of people have sold some pricey cd spinners in favour of it.

[Butuz]

Call me shallow but

Your shallow. :rolleyes: as that's a great transport.

Your also damned rude, sarcastically berating members who are just trying to help put some options out there :steam:

Bye :mental::doh:

Butuz

[Stratmangler]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/pioneer-pds703-stable-platter-cd-player-transport-camden/78971629

[Ali Tait]

Or see this thread-
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=11733

[montesquieu]

Thanks for the all the suggestions.

Squeezebox first: I have had a SB3 in the past and currently have a SB Duet on long-term loan. I use this for internet radio (for which it is great and opens up lots of new music), but I don't have the patience for ripping/fixing the messed up tagging on a very large classical CD collection, especially as I'm 75% vinyl anyway.

I'm also underwhelmed by any interface I've seen to digital classical music collections (scrolling through spreadsheets of stuff is far more tedious than seeking inspiration from running fingers over some well-stocked shelves), as well as put off by the fiddling and tweaking with drivers, servers, networks, client software and backup devices that seems to be necessary to get consistent, good performance as well as ensuring you don't lose the lot in the inevitable hard disk crash. (Having worked in IT for 20 years I go along with the maxim that the question is not 'whether' a hard disk will crash, but 'when'). Meeting all these requirements costs a lot more than £500 in any case.

As for rudeness I was accused of, I have no intention to be rude, just funny ... and I do find it funny that some posters here insist on pushing a particular barrow even when it's clear the OP has little interest (I've experienced this before with 'wanted' requests). Surely it's also rude to go on the wind-up at right angles to the OP's clear question - unless this is also an attempt at being funny? Sorry I missed it then.

I had a stable platter Pioneer many years ago, it was OK back then, but for £500 today, I would expect to get something a little more exotic and, yes, higher performance. With the £60 Pioneer, there would be no joy of ownership in something I considered to be an old bit of (admittedly quite capable) cheap, mass-market flotsam from the past. Which is what it is.

In my budget I'm currently considering a Wadia 3200 (yes I know opinions are split on this since the Lampizator guy pronounced it 'just a Marantz' - I've since read opinions to the contrary, which doesn't surprise me as I've also heard some of his other pronouncements, on electronics, described by people I respect as 'nonsensical' and 'downright dangerous'); a Theta David II (ok this is a wee bit more than my budget but it's under consideration); and John's lovely Shigaclone - John is a great chap, I contacted him yesterday and I'm thinking hard about it, my only issue is paying quite a bit for DIY gear put together by other people, with which my experiences have been, shall we say, highly variable (no aspersions on John BTW this is purely my own issue based on past experiences).

Anyway what I was really asking was - does anyone on the board have an interesting transport going spare? :)

(Not - can someone help me use a search engine please?).:mental:

No offence intended to anyone.

[campbell mac]

I have been using a Cambridge 840 C in straight through mode. Absolutely brilliant and it can also be used with 2 other sources. You can pick them up for under £500. I have it hooked up to a Dacmagic (no sniggers please) and it sounds better than the 840 C in CD mode. I know this sounds unlikely but I read a review online when I was researching the 840 C and one reviewer stated that the 840 C sounded amazing in straight through mode when used as a transport. I didn't pay too much attention at the time as i didn't imagine I would own a DAC with better internals to the 840 C. I was going to replace the Dacmagic but as an experiment I hooked it up using the 840C as a transport and I really was surprised at how good it was. I think I now understand what is meant by 'insight' because that is now there in abundance.It has been hooked up like this for over 6 months. I have no intentions of changing this setup as I cannot fault it, everything sounds superb. I live on the Wirral and if you live close enough or don't mind travelling I would be willing to give you a demo before you start looking.

[montesquieu]

I have been using a Cambridge 840 C in straight through mode. Absolutely brilliant and it can also be used with 2 other sources. You can pick them up for under £500. I have it hooked up to a Dacmagic (no sniggers please) and it sounds better than the 840 C in CD mode. I know this sounds unlikely but I read a review online when I was researching the 840 C and one reviewer stated that the 840 C sounded amazing in straight through mode when used as a transport. I didn't pay too much attention at the time as i didn't imagine I would own a DAC with better internals to the 840 C. I was going to replace the Dacmagic but as an experiment I hooked it up using the 840C as a transport and I really was surprised at how good it was. I think I now understand what is meant by 'insight' because that is now there in abundance.It has been hooked up like this for over 6 months. I have no intentions of changing this setup as I cannot fault it, everything sounds superb. I live on the Wirral and if you live close enough or don't mind travelling I would be willing to give you a demo before you start looking.

Thanks for this and much appreciated. the 840 sounds very interesting.

Anyway it looks like I found something, so thanks all for the suggestions.

[lowpoke]

Anyway it looks like I found something, so thanks all for the suggestions.

So don't keep us in suspense, what did you decide on?

[montesquieu]

So don't keep us in suspense, what did you decide on?

Audio Note CDT-2 ... :)

[tannoy man]

.co.uk/Sony-CDP-XA20ES-CD-PLAYER-Audiophile-grade-Nr-Mint-/130532516644?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiF i_CDPlayerSeparates&hash=ite

If anyone else is looking for a transport. I use one of these, but in gold and its excellent.
Used as a player its bland, but as a Transport it comes into it's own.

[roob]

Audio Note CDT-2
Is it any good?

[montesquieu]

I was recently lucky enough to hear the new AN CDT-Zero/II against my two previous 'transports', an Arcam CD72 and a high-end Denon DVD player.

I was, frankly, gobsmacked at the difference a transport could make .... the difference was not subtle in the least (the Arcam was noticably better than the Denon, but not on the scale of the improvement with the AN).

I haven't heard the CDT-Two yet but I look forward in anticipation.

I'm quite happy to leave those who think transports don't make a difference to their opinion, let's just say my experience has been rather different.

[roob]

I agree
Transports do sound different, those who say a £20 dvd player is as good as it gets are talking bollocks.

[Reid Malenfant]

I agree
Transports do sound different, those who say a £20 dvd player is as good as it gets are talking bollocks.
Too true :)