Looking for suggestions for a <$3K CD transport

J

JDC

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Joined
Jul 25, 2025
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18
Hello All,
My Cambridge needs to be replaced.
I'm curious about Jay's, TEAC (either the 505, or the 701 - which is kinda over-budget), and any others that you folks may have in mind.
Thanks in advance,
J
 
Although I have no personal experience I’ve heard people say the Rega Saturn Mk3 was good. I think it’s just over $3,000 tho.
 
For a good replacement for your Cambridge check out Marantz. You know my opinion on Teac but if out of budget the Marantz are sweet. I haven't heard the stand alone player in a long time Arcam does good digital. Your budget allows for good options.
 
JDC - I've enjoyed my Jay's Audio CDT2-MK3 for about 4 years now - it was $2,500 in 2021. Very nice, heavy, well engineered, trouble-free unit.
 
PMCH said:
I also enjoyed my Jay’s audio CDT 2. I liked it so much I upgraded to the CDT 3
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Mr Peabody said:
For a good replacement for your Cambridge check out Marantz. You know my opinion on Teac but if out of budget the Marantz are sweet. I haven't heard the stand alone player in a long time Arcam does good digital. Your budget allows for good options.
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Looks like I lost track you just wanted a transport
 
The Marantz seems to get great ratings. The Teac is really getting some pretty great ratings and I bet Mike would be pretty darn close to your budget on one of those.

Suncoast

The last CD/SACD player I owned was an Oppo which was a great machine. Too bad Oppo went out of business. At this point it is irrelevant because all of my CDs/SACDs have been ripped to my server anyway.
 
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Randy Myers said:
The Marantz seems to get great ratings. The Teac is really getting some pretty great ratings and I bet Mike would be pretty darn close to your budget on one of those.

Suncoast

The last CD/SACD player I owned was an Oppo which was a great machine. Too bad Oppo went out of business. At this point it is irrelevant because all of my CDs/SACDs have been ripped to my server anyway.
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Oppo did not go out of business. They just dropped CD/SACD players, a minor part of their overall consumer products business.
 
GSOphile said:
Oppo did not go out of business. They just dropped CD/SACD players, a minor part of their overall consumer products business.
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Ok, I stand corrected. I was aware of very little coming from Oppo besides their spinners, which were always rated well.

I was not aware of their smart phones and tablets. It looks like their only audio products are ear buds (from their website). Therefore it is quite understandable to consider them out of business on an audio forum.
 
There are

Good CD transports and bad CD transports
&
Good streaming and bad streaming

IMO the DAC makes the most difference.
Streaming is a GREAT convenience factor
Some prefer the physical media experience (a la the vinyl ritual)
 
I have a good CD transport (Esoteric Grandioso) and a good network transport (Esoteric Grandioso). They both sound the same. Hence why I don't use the CD transport any more.
 
brodricj said:
I have a good CD transport (Esoteric Grandioso) and a good network transport (Esoteric Grandioso). They both sound the same. Hence why I don't use the CD transport any more.
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broderick, congratulations on an exceptional system. Intrested in your digital cable setup, choice of interfaces. For example, do you use ethernet, switches, filters? I assume your Grandioso stack includes a separate clock?
 
I appreciate reading all the feedback and comments above. Thanks. I like CDs, and love my DAC (Primaluna), but my Cambridge spinner pops and skips now and then. Just looking for something reliable. I'm leaning toward that TEAC 701.
 
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To the OP: You do not need to spend much money for a transport.
Just find any CD player with digital out that does not skip/pop and connect it to your DAC. It will sound better than what you have.
 
nicoff said:
To the OP: You do not need to spend much money for a transport.
Just find any CD player with digital out that does not skip/pop and connect it to your DAC. It will sound better than what you have.
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Thanks nicoff. Am I falling for marketing BS? - The whole TEAC VRDS thing?.. I could easily get a cheaper Marantz or whatever and call it a day, and then go out for a nice dinner.. Shit man, my cable to the DAC cost more than a cheapie CD player :)
 
GSOphile said:
broderick, congratulations on an exceptional system. Intrested in your digital cable setup, choice of interfaces. For example, do you use ethernet, switches, filters? I assume your Grandioso stack includes a separate clock?
Click to expand...
To connect the network transport and SACD transport to the DAC I use the HDMI cables that ship with the Esoteric stuff (dual ESLINK interface). For clock cables I use Shunyata Sigma-CLOCK 50. To connect the network transport to the network I use SFP and a 20m cheap plastic single mode fiber.
 
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