$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?

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JLM

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As the Benchmark is well reviewed and includes a volume control for under a grand, it is a possibility for the CD only system I'm planning.

So I'm in the market for a reasonably priced transport.  Intrigued by belt drive, but information on any reasonably priced transports is scant.

Would appreciate any help you can provide, thanks.

byteme

$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #1 on: 10 Nov 2004, 01:16 pm »
The best transports that I've heard are cheap DVD players modded to turbo status by Steve @ Empirical Audio.  I put off modding my Sony 7700 and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner!  Depending on what you can find the DVD player for his turbo mod (minus the Jensen oil cap) is $700 so you should be able to stay under your $1000 limit.  I found my 7700 for $225 shipped.

Uptown Audio

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #2 on: 11 Nov 2004, 12:34 am »
I use a standard Cambridge Audio DVD player as a transport and as a video source in my system and it sounds great. Belt drives are technically wrong and total marketing hype. That works in turntables, not optical, digital drives. There is nothing to isolate in a digital system but you from your wallet.
-Bill

Inscrutable

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #3 on: 11 Nov 2004, 10:47 am »
People used to speak highly of machines that used the Pioneer stable drive transport, like the PD-65, but they are getting a little scarce I think.

Tonto Yoder

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #4 on: 11 Nov 2004, 11:03 am »
Quote from: Inscrutable
People used to speak highly of machines that used the Pioneer stable drive transport, like the PD-65, but they are getting a little scarce I think.

The Enlightened Audio Designs (EAD) machines used stable platters as well.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtltran&1102820449

Inscrutable

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #5 on: 11 Nov 2004, 11:27 am »
Quote
The Enlightened Audio Designs (EAD) machines used stable platters as well.
As did Camelot and lower level Wadia's.  You might also look for something using Teac's VRDS transport.

Lost81

$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #6 on: 11 Nov 2004, 11:57 am »
Someone is selling a used and repaired Wadia for a song on Audiogon.

It certainly looks like a monster!


-Lost81

Hantra

$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #7 on: 11 Nov 2004, 02:36 pm »
Spend about $500 and build a PC with an ASUS Deluxe mobo.  You get a coax digital output right on the board, and I'll put that up against ANY transport.

mcgsxr

$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #8 on: 11 Nov 2004, 05:06 pm »
There is a guy who lives not far from me (near Toronto, Canada) selling a Teac VRDS transport for CAN$600 - roughly US$500 or so - go to this site, http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/ and then click on the Digital Audio link - his name is Jay - no relation etc, just thought it might be of interest to you.

sys1

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #9 on: 12 Nov 2004, 04:10 pm »

doug s.

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #10 on: 12 Nov 2004, 06:13 pm »
Quote from: Uptown Audio
..Belt drives are technically wrong and total marketing hype. That works in turntables, not optical, digital drives. There is nothing to isolate in a digital system but you from your wallet...


well, i have never tried a belt drive transport.  but it's on my list, cuz too many folk whose ears i respect swear by them for it to be "total markering hype".  and, no i am not yust referring to magazine reviewers.

ymmv,

doug s.

JLM

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #11 on: 13 Nov 2004, 01:24 pm »
Thanks for all the suggestions,

The reasons why I don't want to heavily invest in digital playback are:

1.  Unknown future of SACD, DVDa, etc.  (Seems like very few SACD/DVDa re-releases are much better than the CD versions, and even fewer new releases are of music that I'm particularly taken with.)

2.  Relatively rapid advances in transport/DAC technology.  (I'm too cheap to see my expensive stuff blown away by stuff for 1/5 the cost 5 years later.)

3.  The promise of audio PCs.  (I'm still waiting for them to become idiot user friendly.)

The used Sony S7700 and S7000 DVD players look like good candidates.

audioengr

$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #12 on: 13 Nov 2004, 06:24 pm »
Quote
The used Sony S7700 and S7000 DVD players look like good candidates.


The 7700 is the better of the two.  When you are read to purchase one, email me and I will help you get a good one.

Tonto Yoder

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #13 on: 13 Nov 2004, 06:41 pm »
What about getting one of the NEC Multispin units to use as a transport, even if just temporarily??? Make sure it has the digital out.

http://positive-feedback.com/Issue3/cdrom.htm

Even if you move on to something better, you'll still have a back-up for your computer or a unit for a second system. At the often cheap prices for used ones on eBay, you can't go too far wrong???

doug s.

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #14 on: 13 Nov 2004, 08:50 pm »
Quote from: JLM
Thanks for all the suggestions,

The reasons why I don't want to heavily invest in digital playback are:

1.  Unknown future of SACD, DVDa, etc.  (Seems like very few SACD/DVDa re-releases are much better than the CD versions, and even fewer new releases are of music that I'm particularly taken with.)

2.  Relatively rapid advances in transport/DAC technology.  (I'm too cheap to see my expensive stuff blown away by stuff for 1/5 the cost 5 years later.)

3.  The promise of audio PCs.  (I'm still wai ...


yure buying a $1k dac, & want a $1k transport, yet don't wanna invest heavily in digital playback!   :lol:

i felt the same way, so i bought an art di/o for ~$125, spent a few bucks modding it, & picked up for $80 an aiwa 5-disc changer that got lotsa good press from the chicago audio society.  a few more buck to upgrade its power cord & power supply, & i tink i have 95% of what redbook cd can offer.  no way i'm gonna spend $2k, unless i can get a *BIG* improvement, & from what i've heard, even $10k worth of hardware ain't gonna give me that.  that's why, even tho the belt-drive cec player, which can be had for ~$500 used, & can be further tweeked w/power-supply mods, is still on the back burner.  i'm yust not sure it's cost effective.  mebbe at some point, someone will lend me one...   :wink:

ymmv,

doug s.

Marbles

$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #15 on: 13 Nov 2004, 08:59 pm »
Doug, I've heard that Aiwa 5 disc changer before(DrPhoto's).  IMO with a coax digital output, it sucked as a transport.

With Stan Warren's optical output mod and his seemingly proprietary optical cable, it was Very Very nice as a transport.  I hope you have a Stan Warren modded one.  Don't know how you would hook it to the D/IO though.  I heard it with a Stan Warren modded MSB.

doug s.

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #16 on: 13 Nov 2004, 11:00 pm »
Quote from: Marbles
Doug, I've heard that Aiwa 5 disc changer before(DrPhoto's).  IMO with a coax digital output, it sucked as a transport.

With Stan Warren's optical output mod and his seemingly proprietary optical cable, it was Very Very nice as a transport.  I hope you have a Stan Warren modded one.  Don't know how you would hook it to the D/IO though.  I heard it with a Stan Warren modded MSB.


re: using it w/a coax digital out, i don't know how you could even *do* that, as the aiwa xc37m doesn't even have a coax out.  mebbe ya heard a different model.  or, mebbe the cabling & tos-to-coax interface was poor.

re stan's mods, i spoke w/stan about his mods, & he told me that if i used a quality toslink cable, & upgraded the p/s, i would have results on par w/his mods.  his point was that why would i wanna spend the money on an outboard quality toslink cable, if i could get it modded instead?  i was considering his mod, but *my* point was that i wanted to be able to actually *listen* to the thing sometime before the 22nd century!   8)   so, i passed on the mods, got a quality tos cable, & modded the p/s myself w/better caps & diodes.

re: getting the aiwa changer to work w/the di/o, this unit works admirably.  


http://www.radiodesignlabs.com/fp-spr1.htm

retailing for ~$160, it set me back another $90, from fullcompass.com.  there's others about half the price, but this one was the only one w/actual specs, so i went for it.  i had initially tried the gw-labs dsp, but that thing mucked up the sound something awful in upsample mode, & did nothing whatsoever w/the upsample mode by-passed.

doug s.

JLM

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #17 on: 14 Nov 2004, 01:35 am »
Doug S.,

My pockets aren't all that deep to want to spend $2K for transport and DAC.   :oops: The benchmark would also serve as my preamp in a dedicated CD system.  And as I'd hoped, good used transports such as the Sony S7700 or S7000 are available for around $200 that can be modded later on to provide even better performance.  

BTW I have a pair of single driver speakers that are rated 25 - 20,000 Hz in room and am seriously considering chip amp monoblocks (again extremely simple designs).  And I'm building a house with a dedicated (and hopefully properly designed) sound room.  Note that designing insulation, isolation, and proper room proportions up front cost about $800 extra.

So for $1200 what I'd have in effect is a very good CD player in a very simple system (saving on a pair of analog interconnects and a pre-amp).

IMO not getting the source "right" is a big mistake.  If the foundation of the house is "off" you'll fight it throughout the rest of the construction and well beyond.

doug s.

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$1000 transport recommendations for a Benchmark DAC?
« Reply #18 on: 14 Nov 2004, 02:19 am »
Quote from: JLM
Doug S.,

My pockets aren't all that deep to want to spend $2K for transport and DAC. icon_redface.gif The benchmark would also serve as my preamp in a dedicated CD system. And as I'd hoped, good used transports such as the Sony S7700 or S7000 are available for around $200 that can be modded later on to provide even better performance.

BTW I have a pair of single driver speakers that are rated 25 - 20,000 Hz in room and am seriously considering chip amp monoblocks (again extremely simple designs). And I'm building a house with a dedicated (and hopefully properly designed) sound room. Note that designing insulation, isolation, and proper room proportions up front cost about $800 extra.

So for $1200 what I'd have in effect is a very good CD player in a very simple system (saving on a pair of analog interconnects and a pre-amp).

IMO not getting the source "right" is a big mistake. If the foundation of the house is "off" you'll fight it throughout the rest of the construction and well beyond.


yes, i understand your predicament.  and i agree 100% that it's important to get the source right.  all i can say is that, for my money, i'm plenty happy w/my source, & i don't have any desire to upgrade.  i yust haven't heard anything better at anywhere near the price.  of course, in direct a-b comparison, that is limited to the resolution audio cd50.   it was wirtually indistinguishable from my stuff in a rig that was optimised for the cd-50.  in fact, that a-b was done prior to a coupla tweeks i did to my di/o that *further* improved its resolution and smoothness.  sure, i read about the new stuff, but everyone seems to talk about hair-splitting, or small differences in  presentation (taste), but no major revelations.  none at a price i could afford, anyway!   :wink:

now, your wanting to use the dac's wolume pot in lieu of a preamp also brings up an interesting issue.  the resolution audio cdp is *designed* to be run straight in to amps, its wolume pot is *not* an afterthought, but one of its main features, per the designer.  yet it *definitely* sounds better when run thru a decent tubed preamp, imo.  (and also in the opinion of its owner.)  of course, you could always add a preamp later, & at least have tunes in the meantime.  but, if it were me, i'd be looking at a modded art di/o (or ack! or scott nixon or ???), & a tube preamp for that same $1000 instead of the benchmark...  in fact, there's two bolder cables modded mensa di/os presently f/s on agon for <$400, and an ack! for $415.

re: full-range speakers that are single-driver, i'd hazard a guess that they are also reasonably efficienct.  if so, i'd consider tubed amplification, especially if yure gonna skip using a preamp.  while i've heard decent things about reasonably priced chip amps, like the cia vmb-1's, i think something like modded asl wave-25's from response audio would be so much nicer for a cd-only system w/no preamp.  and, pricing is similar...

re: your room, *any* upfront costs yure spending now in design/construction will *more* than pay for themselves down the road, imo.  this topic came up in another thread, & i strongly believe the room is the most important component of an audio rig.  

good luck!   :)

doug s.