better transport option than Nad

[millerman]

I’m thinking of upgrading my transport. I am currently using the NAD, but it is probably the weakest link in the chain. Where I am struggling is, to get a transport that will last through a number of upgrades on other pieces of my kit it will mean me buying a cd player that probably will be equivalent in quality to the QBD I use. If that’s the case then it defeats the object of the QBD in the first place (with the notable exception of the Bluetooth function)

The chord blue is out of my price range, so is there a transport only that will give me a significant improvement in sound

Budget is around the 2K mark

Cyrus seems to be an option - but will this give me any differnce in sound quality?

Yhanks in anticipation

 

[chebby]

iMac 21.5" with 1TB hard-drive + iTunes and Apple lossless = £1225. (+ 1TB external backup just in case.)

 

[shooter]

If your willing to go second hand there are 2 dCS Verdi's on e-bay at the moment around the 2k mark. Pair it with your QBD via the S/PDIF connectors and you would have a world class front end. Period.

 

[millerman]

Thanks guys

Two interesting options there. I must admit to being nervous of spending £2k on second hand stuff though. One other point that has confused me, the two Verdis listed on ebay look to be conpletely different machines. Am I looking at this wrong?

Thanks for the replys much appreciated

 

[shooter]

They are the same machine just the lighting is different.

Second hand is always a punt but if you can see service records etc which can be checked with the company the risks are a lot lower.
dCS is a UK bassed company so should be easy to contact and find out about the machine and it's history.

I do know of an ex-demo from a dealer but he wants 4k for it.

 

[caddyhound]

Outside of the DCS transports the Esoteric CD players are generally considered to have the best transports.A second hand one is in your budget and will see you through several upgrades.I have a Bel Canto CD1 as a transport and it is excellent.Like the Esoterics they are built like battleships and are very durable.Other worthwhile alternatives are Lyngdorf CD1 (which needs a bit of burning in) or Leema Antila 11(ex dem).I had reliability issues with Cyrus so am not a fan!

 

[Dr Beat]

Caddy hound

You had Cyrus reliability issues? Which model? I have the XT model as a transport for 2+ years with no issues despite me moving it halfway around the world with it (got posted to the Far East). Curious to know your experience. As for the XT, tray aside, i think is a fine transport, esp, when paired with its external power supply.

Regards

 

[caddyhound]

Sorry Dr Beat i should have been more specific.It was one of their DVD players.Went wrong,had it fixed and went wrong again.It was around the time the disc loading problems were emerging on the SE versions of their CD players so I decided to avoid their products.

 

[Dr Beat]

Many thanks caddy hound for the clarification. I have not gone their dvd route. just hi fi. anyway, saw from your sign in we both have the wadia i70. but you had yours modified. how and what did you modify?

thanks

 

[RCduck7]

CEC cd players are known for their good transports.

 

[caddyhound]

Dr Beat - I had the Audiocom level 1 upgrade (available on the well known auction site).Worth every penny for the improvement in sound.

Apologies for the small hijack of the thread!