Transport - will it really make an improvement

I don't have the luxury of being able to audition lots of gear before purchase, so I must rely to a great extent on magazine/ezine reviews. TAS has been a good source for many years, and although HP is highly opinionated, I trust his words more than those of many others, (especially some in Stereophile).

So--when the time came for me to buy a transport to accompany my new Chord DAC64, I remembered HP's praise of the Burmesters, with their belt-drives, and got as close as possible (read: without going absolutely crazy with the checkbook) to those very expensive units ($30K for a transport is a bit much, in my estimation!): I bought a CEC TL-1X and I am very happy with it in combination with the Chord.

I can't truly attest to a "magical" effect of the belt-drive feature, but using the CEC is a very satisfying experience (read: Ritual!), akin to the involvement required to spin a long-playing record. I've been involved with analog for 55 years now, and, at my age, "ritual" has become greatly important to me.

On a more realistic plane, it would seem that the elimination, or, failing that, the reduction, of relative movement (other than rotation, of course!) between the disc and the laser pickup is to be desired. The theory then is that the belt provides isolation from the drive motor. Again, I can't attest to the effectiveness of the arrangement. I can only say that the combination of CEC and Chord has provided me with CD sound I can enjoy; my previous Wadia 830 did not. Prior to these recent purchases, I was on the verge of reverting exclusively to analog.

To address the original question, however, I do feel (FWIW!) that of the two components (transport and converter), the converter is of more importance.

BTW--my system comprises:

CEC/BEL(interconnect)/Chord/Transparent(interconnect)/ARC (preamp)/Synergistic Research/Brystons(pair of bridged 4BSTs)/XLO cables/SoundLab A-3s.

Jim

I have a Pioneer Elite DV09 DVD player - I was using it as a transport for MSB Link DAC III and then later a Bel Canto DAC1. I got a dedicated transport - a Muse Model 5 and I was very impressed with the improvements. I can't describe the improvement accurately (trying to describe sound is like trying to cut roast beef with a screwdriver - I read somewhere recently), but it was better in just about every way. The Muse Model Five generally go for about $650 or so - it was worth every penny as far as I was concerned. A Theta may also be another consideration at that price point.

In response to Electrostaticman: The Audionote CDT-2 ($2950)transport top loading with Black Gate Caps in the power supply and a Audionote DAC One.1x Signature ($1499) or 2.1X ($1799) is an awesome combo.

My own experience:

I have used both Sony and Onkyo DVD players (both top of their respective line) as a digital front end. I recently purchased a Chord DAC 64 and found that I could not listen to my music, because I was distracted by the crap coming from the DVD players. I A-B'd both and found the Onkyo (about 4 years newer than the Sony) to be marginally better, but still not acceptable. I was hearing MUCH more information with the Chord, and some of it was obviously garbled.

I have recently added a used Mark Levinson 37 transport, and I am now in musical heaven. Now, my only gripe is my being able to tell the difference between a bad/good/great recording! Ignorance was bliss.

Best regards, Dave.

Most transports use either Phillips,Sony,or Mashista as a drive.They are designed as universal application devices and do a poor job for Audio.This is one reason you see so much good press on Audiomeca ,they produce their own reader.My opinion is there are only a few really good transports and it begins at this device.