2nd hand CD Transports circa £200 any opinions

Hi,
I could be on the look out for a nice dedicated cd transport in the £200 region. Looking at second hand to get most for my money. It will partner my MF A324 DAC.

I have been reading around but very little out there. Anyone got an opinion on the old Arcam delta series (170, 250, 270 etc), or the Cambridge audio Discmagic, or other transports.

I hear the old TEAC VDRS are a good option (although not strictly a dedicated transport) Are these available at this price point? Any other good 2nd hand cd players with a fantastic transport?
Thanks all

 

i'm in the market too, saves me posting the some question


*keeps an ear to this thread*

 

Micheal (Michaellab) I see you have the TEAC T1. I have seen these go for about £200. Do you rate yours?

 

Sauerkraut, the TEAC1 is a good start and can be quickly improved in the future with a Trichord update.

 

As a sidenote on the Teac. Yes it is a good transport, however, it's also virtually impossible to get replacement parts for, so if you buy one, make sure it's not in need of servicing.

I bought two last year (they were so cheap it was irresistable).
One of them didn't work from the time I bought it due to transport issues. Four months of asking Teac Japan for parts left me without anything, so in the end I gave up.

 

thanks Mr_Sukebe. Always a tricky one when buying second hand. A little off putting too to know that.

Anyone any other thoughts on other transports?

 

I'd have a look at the old Pioneer models with their 'upside down' stable platter cd drawer. Not sure of the model numbers. These make excellent transports and as mentioned above can be made to really sing with Trichord/other mods.

I know a few people using these as transports with the old MF X-Dac and they sound way better than their s/h price would suggest. Definite bargain in my book.

PK

 

The Pioneer PDS703/5/7 is the best of those for price/performance - nice machines if you want copies - though the analog outputs are scuppered via old versions of Legato Link (it can make some CDs sound really "flat"). This doesn't affect the digi outs though

 

Thanks guys. I have heard these were good.
Any idea what the PIONEER PD-8700 was like?

 

My Teac T1 is wonderful - I really like it. It has been "breathed on" by wadia-miester though Some non-standard bits in there...like a Trichord Clock 4 and a Trichord "Never Connected" PSU. WM replaced the captive mains lead with a quality IEC socket, changed some internal mains cabling and loaded the whole thing with Dynamat

As for replacement parts, I'm not so sure there's a problem. WM seems to have a source...

Michael.

 

Thanks Michael.
Sounds just what I'm looking for. I've looked on the Tricord site and see the prices are sensible. Will any trained hifi repair guy be able to do these mods? Do you know if WM Would be happy to do these sort of mods for anyone? He seems like a busy man. If so what sort of prices does he charge or should I really discuss that with him?
I like the idea of being able to upgrade internally as and when funds allow.
Thanks again.