Audiolab 6000CDT

jjgreenwood

Thanks to all the replies. Re Rich847; I too moved to optical without any problems. Hadn't thought of the RF aspect (neither did the dealer). Can say though from a sound perspective I prefer it to my old Marantz CD6002 which it replaced.

aland22

This may sound a bit flippant but as it is only a transport then I wouldn't have thought there would be too much difference between transports as it will be the DAC doing the majority of the work. The transport will be largely responsible for reading the info from the disk and presenting it to the DAC. I can't really see how the transport will add any colour to the sound - perhaps the thing that will differ between transports is how much of what's written on the disk they present to the DAC.

daisy chain

The Marantz was a player, not a transport only, so there is colouration on that circuit when I previously listened.

SickSquirrel

Interesting, I bought a stereo this week and going vinyl was something I considered. Then I saw the prices of the discs, the people selling record cleaners for thousands of pounds, reviews and forumites saying that to get anything close to cd quality sound needed a £600 deck. The realisation that I would need to buy some sort of isolation rig because the stereo sits next to the speakers. I decided against it.

I was also tempted by one of those naim atom streaming only things. I still have a WD my book somewhere from my last dive into flac and computer audio with my entire collection ripped to it and a load of acquired high res audio files. God knows where it is, I might try and find it - I seem to remember the os threw a wobbly and wouldn’t let me into it, but I definitely know where all my cds are.

I then realised how cheap and available cds are and how reliable they are. So I ended up buying a CD player with streaming built in along with traditional amp and speakers. While streaming and networks are all very well sometimes you can’t beat the reliability of a cd. Also it doesn’t need cleaning and if I buy them secondhand the chances are that they will work exactly as intended.

Yes there are cheaper methods but then you end up with a bunch of small plastic boxes and a load of wires which is what I ended up with last time and one of the reasons I got rid of it.

aland22

Hi, I have just received the Audiolab 6000CDT and the improvement in dynamics and presentation was immediately noticeable.  But after only 4 hours of play I am returning the unit.  Every CD there was a click and half a second pause.  This occured 2 or 3 times per CD.  It was definitley NOT the result of scratches of damaged CDs, that sounds totally different.  I am returning the unit to Amazon (Sevenoaks HiFi) tomorrow and back to listening to my Marantz 6006 via Chord Mojo Dac.  Definitly the Audiolab sounds much much better but can't handle the clicks and pauses.  I'm going to stick with a CD transport because the results are immediately noticeable.  There is not a lot out there though.  Did you audition / buy the
Cyrus CDT?
I am running a Rega Brio amp, Chord Mojo  with Dynaudio Emit 10 speakers

Best
Alan

SickSquirrel

I've had the Cyrus CDt and the Audiolab at half the price is twice as good. The buffering issue only seems to occur, very occasionally, when I skip forward to later tracks. If I play a CD straight through it almost never happens. Given the vast improvement in quality I can cope with it. It's the most relaxing CD player I've ever heard.... seems to have, rather like Viv Richards in the 70s, all the time in the world.... As I reckon the buffering is the reason it sounds so good I can put up with the odd blip. But I listened to several CDs today without a single issue. Keeping them pristine helps.

aland22

Is it not just the read ahead mechanism buffering data? Does the music pause mid track?

SickSquirrel

The music pauses (clicks half second pause) mid track, typically every 15 minutes or so.  I've had many CD players since the 1980s and this new to me

aland22

Yep, that's a faulty player...

SickSquirrel

Think I'll check out the Project CD Box DS2T CD Transport (£500) and any reviews