Good ol’ honest engineering - the world best cd transport from years ago

tony22

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2019
555
239
133
62
I have a spare CDM-1 Mk2 transport. An early great mechanism, for its time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mtemur

GSOphile

Well-Known Member
Sep 3, 2017
569
352
173
You mention the VRDS-1 transport from Teac. In fact Teac built 4 versions of their excellent VRDS CD reader with differing qualities of materials, but the VRDS-1 used the 3rd best, as did the VRDS-7 CDP. The better VRDS-10 used the second best but the top one was only used in the (correct me if I'm wrong) the VRDS-25. This top VRDS transport found its way into other top brands of CD players as it was the best reader on the market.
As many here probably know, Esoteric is TEAC's luxury brand where VRDS CD/SACD front loading transport technology is featured. Current incarnations are their VRDS ATLAS mechanisms. There's plenty of detail on VRDS on the Esoteric website under their various SACD player models. Esoteric used to OEM their less refined versions of VRDS technology to a number of high end brands for incorporation into their players/transports, but stopped this practice several years ago.
 

retired farmer

Active Member
Oct 18, 2022
137
51
33
57
I have two :

That transport with the levinson dac back it the day is one of the five best cd players I ever heard. That plus the sonic frontier dac and transport three. The linn cd12, the wadia seperates 27 and? That matching pair, and the levinson transport dac pair there top of the line.
 

mtemur

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2019
1,350
1,310
245
48
Mark Levinson No:31 is a great transport but for me CEC TL0 and 47 Labs PiTracer are the best. I also listened Oracle and Rice Cd players. They’re good but just another CDM Pro2 transports, that’s all. Second best thing to CEC and 47 Labs are Philips CDM 1 or Industrial. Even CDM 4 is great to my ears. More importantly infamously unreliable Philips capacitors play a major role on the final sound of those transports. If you happen to find a Studer or Revox variant it even sounds better and more unreliable with German (Franco) capacitors. Studer A727 and A730 sound great, not as detailed as Esoteric but much more listenable.
I used to have Pioneer PD-91 and BOW ZZ-8 and they were great transports too.
BTW I never liked Esoteric top transports or Sony transports.
 
Last edited:

retired farmer

Active Member
Oct 18, 2022
137
51
33
57
Mark Levinson No:31 is a great transport but for me CEC TL0 and 47 Labs PiTracer are the best. I also listened Oracle and Rice Cd players. They’re good but just another CDM Pro2 transports, that’s all. Second best thing to CEC and 47 Labs are Philips CDM 1 or Industrial. Even CDM 4 is great to my ears. More importantly infamously unreliable Philips capacitors play a major role on the final sound of those transports. If you happen to find a Studer or Revox variant it even sounds better and more unreliable with German (Franco) capacitors. Studer A727 and A730 sound great, not as detailed as Esoteric but much more listenable.
I used to have Pioneer PD-91 and BOW ZZ-8 and they were great transports too.
BTW I never liked Esoteric top transports or Sony transports.
Did you ever listen to a roksan rok transport? I never heard the clc you talk about or the 47 labs
 
Jan 18, 2012
2,320
2,405
1,475
Drobak Norway
I love pro Studer and EMT
my A727 CD player is very musical and if I want more detail from it I just use my external DIY all out DDDAC1794 nos filterless which is hooked up to the digital out
 
  • Like
Reactions: mtemur

Tabl10s

Well-Known Member
Jul 30, 2019
56
23
88
62
Sacramento
Did you ever listen to a roksan rok transport? I never heard the clc you talk about or the 47 labs
My transport journey was:

PS Audio Lambda
Sonic Frontiers SFT-1
CEC TL-1X
Oracle CD2000/2000SE
I remember the Forsell being loved by J-10(Jonathan Scull). I saw a Yamaha top-loader in Saudi Arabia, 30 years ago.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mtemur

retired farmer

Active Member
Oct 18, 2022
137
51
33
57
My transport journey was:

PS Audio Lambda
Sonic Frontiers SFT-1
CEC TL-1X
Oracle CD2000/2000SE
I remember the Forsell being loved by J-10(Jonathan Scull). I saw a Yamaha top-loader in Saudi Arabia, 30 years ago.
Lol there was not students dealer within in 2000 miles of me either! Another one I missed
Studer lol auto correct
 

retired farmer

Active Member
Oct 18, 2022
137
51
33
57
My transport journey was:

PS Audio Lambda
Sonic Frontiers SFT-1
CEC TL-1X
Oracle CD2000/2000SE
I remember the Forsell being loved by J-10(Jonathan Scull). I saw a Yamaha top-loader in Saudi Arabia, 30 years ago.
I do remember now that you mension that scull liked the forsell
 
Jan 18, 2012
2,320
2,405
1,475
Drobak Norway
a friend had the Forsell and it was the size of a pro baking machine and pretty good sounding
I bought 2 Studer A727s from NRK/Norw.national broadcaster
they had over 600 Studer A810s and at least a couple of hundred A80s
70 Lyrec Frida for Lillehammer Olympics in -94
and hundreds of other Studer R2R, casette and EMT cd, tt´s and shitloads of Tascam B52s and ATR 60s too
they also had hundreds of Altec Mantarays for the Olympics outdoor arenas
 

retired farmer

Active Member
Oct 18, 2022
137
51
33
57
a friend had the Forsell and it was the size of a pro baking machine and pretty good sounding
I bought 2 Studer A727s from NRK/Norw.national broadcaster
they had over 600 Studer A810s and at least a couple of hundred A80s
70 Lyrec Frida for Lillehammer Olympics in -94
and hundreds of other Studer R2R, casette and EMT cd, tt´s and shitloads of Tascam B52s and ATR 60s too
they also had hundreds of Altec Mantarays for the Olympics outdoor arenas
What many people don't think about around me in western Canada that the hi fi world exists farther afield than just north America. There are many great products that we have never seen. I wanted an power pre that was made in Norway very bad years ago. I could not find anyone to sell me one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bonzo75
Jan 18, 2012
2,320
2,405
1,475
Drobak Norway
I later had a bridged version of that driving mono Klipsch corner horn with JBL LE15a lopassed at 55Hz with Symmetry active filter from John Curl
above was Acoustat monitor IV driven by directcoupled pentode amps
Spatial coherence preamp and Cotter B1/Denon DP6000 tt with FR 66FX and Linn Karma
 

mtemur

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2019
1,350
1,310
245
48
Did you ever listen to a roksan rok transport? I never heard the clc you talk about or the 47 labs
I heard Roksan transport but I can’t make comparisons with other transports. Probably I wasn’t impressed.

A couple of years ago a friend who’s in antique business bought asked me through a mutual friend if he should buy these or not. I told him “buy immediately”. He bought those below together with Roksan transport, Audio Aero amps, McIntosh amps, B&W speakers.
c5520d90-43e9-4980-8386-81b40dcea609.jpeg Thorens Reference is sold to Netherlands but I don’t know what happened to Roksan transport.
 

retired farmer

Active Member
Oct 18, 2022
137
51
33
57
I bought the roksan pair years ago. I really didn't care for the one bit dac. I finally mated it with a chord dac and I was surprised at how that pairing worked. Lol I always thought I guess it looks good just don't play it. I ended up quite happy with it.
 

DasguteOhr

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2013
2,352
2,510
645
Germany
Micromega duo cd transport have a good detailed sound.
cdm philips laser and aes/ebu xlr digital output. s-l1600.jpg
For more money sony cdp r 10 has the best mechanic and sound on this planet. 32-sony-cdp-r10.jpg
 
Last edited:

mtemur

Well-Known Member
Mar 26, 2019
1,350
1,310
245
48


For more money sony cdp r 10 has the best mechanic and sound on this planet
How do you know that? Have you ever heard it?
I haven’t heard a Sony transport that I like and I heard R1, predecessor and of R10.
 

DasguteOhr

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2013
2,352
2,510
645
Germany



How do you know that? Have you ever heard it?
I haven’t heard a Sony transport that I like and I heard R1, predecessor and of R10.
Five years ago I was able to hear it with 2 different DACs. jadis dac and sonic frontiers sfd 2. it sounds excellent very detailed open sound. better then wadia 7 transport which has been the benchmark for me for years, even in the bass area it is equivalent to the wadia. The workmanship and connection options are exceptional for the early 90s. The transport mechanism is heavier than most complete CD transports today. Stability in piano music i like to compare with good analogue sources. Be quick here the combination is offered.
12281151_5a445c46e1023.jpg unnamed (4).jpg
P.s a bit over 200 pieces only made
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: mtemur

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing