The Article
6000CDT CD Transport From Audiolab
12th July 2019
A basic, simple, stripped CD transport? In this day and age? Isn’t Audiolab reading the script? Paul Rigby reviews, salutes and offers live sacrifices to this incredible machine
I never thought I’d see the day. The Audiolab 6000CDT is a CD transport. I say again, it’s a CD transport. And…nothing else. Nothing. There’s no Bluetooth. There’s no headphone socket. No networking this or wireless that.
It’s a transport. You put a CD in it. That’s the deal.
Let me explain why that’s a talking point. The hi-fi industry has got its knickers in a twist about packing every chassis it can find with “added value”. Which also means a safer bet for “higher profits”. It’s the shotgun approach. Pack enough goodies into a box and some passing hi-fi fan will surely like at least one of those included features and so you’ll be assured a sale. Modern hi-fi kit is turning into mini-department stores. Each component is becoming its own one-stop shop.
So all-in-one units are in vogue but cross-over components are very common indeed. Headphone amps have DACs, integrated amps include Bluetooth, turntables feature USB plugs and phono amps and so it goes.
The trouble is, hi-fi components don’t like being placed in close proximity with each other because of cross contamination of electrical noise that results in a veiling of subtle and nuanced information. It damages the delicate stuff in sound. It’s not a good thing. Hi-fi components much prefer to be separate and alone. Isolate a hi-fi component and it will reward you with better sound.
So, for example, there’s plenty of great integrated amps out there but there’s even better sounding pre-amp/power amp combos out there too. Why? Because you’ve isolated the pre-amp bit from the power amp bit. Separate the power amp into two separate monoblocks and sound quality takes a further hike upwards. You can apply the same theory to any component in the hi-fi chain. That includes separating an integrated CD player into a transport and DAC.
This box from Audiolab, the 6000CDT, is different from the rest because it’s stripped of extra technologies. It moves against the grain and accepted wisdom. Because of that, it had my attention and I had only taken the thing out of the box. I hadn’t even put the plug in yet.
OK, so it’s a simple box that does one job and that’s a novelty in this day and age. So what else?
The 6000CDT fits very easily into the Audiolab family in terms of aesthetics. If you happen to have a 6000A amplifier, for example, then you’ll notice that the 6000CDT is a perfect visual match for that.
It also uses the same slot-type transport as seen on the 8300CD (which is priced around the £1,000 mark). I’ve had a love-hate relationship with slot-type transports in the past. Many have a bad attitude. Some work when they want to and others demand that you play out a strange dance if you want to listen to your CD with any sort of success. For example, I remember one example from the past that will remain nameless where you had to rest the CD in the slot. Pause. Then give it a gentle nudge. Anything else and the transport would spit out the disc. Thankfully, the Audiolab removes this sort of palaver. It’s firm, solid and works as it should. Which is a big relief.
Better still, in operation, the transport uses built-in memory that reads ahead to reduce errors.
The thorny issue of jitter is also addressed by Audiolab. Jitter is an odd thing – it sounds odd too. Jitter is supposedly produced by digital storage hardware, creating variations in the bitstream that changes the sound waveform itself (although there are also thoughts that jitter is fixed and is part of the actual disc itself in varying levels and that it is pressed into the disc during imperfect duplication). If I was forced to find an analogue comparison, I’d probably compare the overall effect to wow and flutter on a turntable (I know, it’s not exactly the same but it’s a generalised comparison). So, even though the information itself is, as it where, ‘perfect’ the jitter shifts that information about a bit. So you get timing errors. The sound takes on a slightly distorted demeanour. Jitter (wherever it might come from) has been a problem for a long time and the original developers of the first CD technologies were all too aware of the effect. Apparently, even a 0.1 nanosecond jitter shift is audible – that’s how sensitive our ears are, folks.
To combat this effect, Audiolab took it upon itself to have a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator master clock installed to lower the jitter effect at the transport end of the equation. Audiolab says that the jitter effects are “vanishingly low” but we’ll see about that during the sound tests.
More than that, the coaxial output has been looked at and isolated to reduce noise. This is the most important socket on the 6000CDT because this will be the socket that connects to your DAC. On the 6000CDT, the coaxial socket is fed from a differential line driver.
The box itself is simple, minimal and to the point. The front offers a CD loading slot, stand-by button and standard CD play buttons.
The rear? Apart from the in-house trigger buttons to connect to other Audiolab products, you get a power socket, rocker power switch and two digital outs. That’s it.
To me, the 6000CDT is beautiful. Not because it has been styled or moulded or has fancy bits of metal stuck all over it. No, I think it is beautiful because it is simple. I hoped that the philosophy of the outer chassis would be replicated inside too.
SOUND QUALITY
I began by comparing this specialist CD transport with an integrated CD player (i.e. a CD player where the transport and DAC exist within a single chassis).
Because of budget restrictions, many users upgrade their CD player in stages and gradually, not by buying a brand-new CD player but by plugging that CD player into another DAC. The integrated CD player then becomes a sort of make-shift transport.
To save cash and to begin with, the ‘new’ DAC is often the unit sitting in their amplifier (maybe the amplifier is newer and the amp’s DAC of a superior specification). Later, they will upgrade again and buy a separate DAC for their make-shift transport. That is, they will plug in a new DAC into the back of an integrated CD player.
I wanted to test both of these scenarios with the 6000CDT. Just to see if I could hear any sonic differences.
I connected my reference integrated CD player to the Audiolab 6000A amplifier. The DAC inside a 6000A is an ES9018 Sabre32 Reference, so well worth exploiting.
At this point, the reference transport was used to play the 6000A’s DAC. Then I removed the integrated CD player and then connected the 6000CDT transport to the 6000A amplifier and noted the difference.
Doing the test, I played Out on the Weekend from Neil Young on the 1972 album, Harvest (Reprise).
Just how would the specialist transport compare to the transport from the all-round CD player? Is a specialist transport really any better in performance terms? Just how different is the 6000CDT?
It’s different. Completely different. “Hey, have you just put on a different CD?”-different. That’s how different.
The leap in quality was quite shocking, actually. Imagine you’ve drawn a picture of your living room on a piece of paper. It’s a sort of comic-strip effect drawing with everything you know in the room, on that paper. It’s a familiar sight but, as I say, it’s on paper. That’s the reference CD player reference (which I hasted to add was three times the price of the 6000CDT).
Then walk into the real 3D, living (and breathing) room. Walk around in it. Look side on and behind. Jump up and down in it.
That’s the 6000CDT.
That’s how different.
That’s not to deride my reference either, which is a superb integrated CD player and knocks spots off much of the competition at a similar price. It is highly recommended as an integrated CD player. The thing is, though, it is integrated. It is not a specialist transport. In some ways, it’s terribly unfair on my reference to use it in this fashion but that’s what many hi-fi users do. To upgrade their CD, they add a separate DAC and use the old player as a transport. It’s a standard fudge. So, to that effect, the fact that I used this particular integrated CD player in this test is immaterial. I could have used one of dozens of different branded integrateds and the same result would have occurred.
In fact, I did. I quickly brought in a mid-priced CD player by Cambridge just for this brief test. Another very nice CD player. Excellent. Again, highly recommended as an integrated CD player. Same result? Same result.
The Audiolab 6000CDT is a specialist you see. That’s the difference here. It’s designed to do one job. It does it superbly.
OK, so how in sonic terms?
First off is the soundstage. This is the place that contains the music. This is where the music comes from. Get this framework right and the quality of the music will have more chance to shine. The 6000CDT does just that because the soundstage was completely remodelled. Which is why I really did think for a brief second that I’d put a new CD on to play. The effect was more than 3D. The music was pushed backwards but not just at the stereo image point – a usual place for 3D effects to occur. No, more than that, space was pushed left and right too, right across the breath of the soundstage. This gave a large rectangular space at the rear of the soundstage for the music to work with. And space is what increased here, lots and lots of space. This meant that the guitar sounded, how to describe this, ‘alone’ is what I’m scrambling for here. I felt that I could have got up off my listening chair and moved my hands around the sides and back of the guitar and never touched the guitar or what was next to it. There seemed to be a discernible gap between it and the vocal.
Detail was much increased too – tonal variation was also increased but more than that, I was hearing far more resonance vibration from the strings. Those little imperfections that tell you that a human being is playing this thing. They added emotion to the guitar playing.
The drums too were different. Bigger with a slightly hollow sound that suggested that these drums had size but not necessarily mass. It was a great effect because the tonal effects added realism to the overall arrangement.
Young’s vocal now had an almost lost little boy feel to them. An innocence that just wasn’t present beforehand.
The other great thing about the 6000CDT was the instrumental separation. Previously, the cymbal strikes and hard, pumping acoustic guitar strums occurred at exactly the same moment so hearing the cymbal strikes on their own was a tough call. Not now. Oh no. I could plainly hear both and separate too. That one element sold the 6000CDT as a valid piece of hi-fi equipment to me. Right there, I was a convert.
I then turned to Rosemary Clooney’s Bluebird CD release of the original 1960 album, Rosie Solves the Swinging Riddle, with arrangements from Nelson Riddle and the track, Get Me To The Church on Time.
The presentation provided lots of atmosphere because Clooney sounded like she was recording her track in a large auditorium in front of a live orchestra. That sense of space, the grandeur and the sense of immediacy was there in buckets, with plenty of reverb from the upper mids swilling around, adding a vivacity and energy to the piece. Tubular bells and cymbal taps offered delicacy and fragility from the treble area while percussion provided welcome tonal balance in bass terms. Transients were sharp and accurate while trumpets and saxes were both clean yet resonant.
I then removed the 6000CDT from the 6000A amplifier.
It was time to move the test onwards. To get serious, as it where. I wanted to move away from a built-in DAC and find an external model. So I hooked the 6000CDT to the most basic, the cheapest of modern DACs I could find. In my case an iFi iOne DAC, priced around £200 or less. And a brilliant little DAC it is at this price point.
So, in effect, you’re looking at a complete CD player (i.e. transport plus DAC) for somewhere in the region of £500. Give or take.
As an ‘unfair’ comparison, I brought in a ringer (which you won’t find in the reference list below). A highly respected, award-winning integrated CD player costing around £1,000.
It should have walked all over the 6000CDT/iOne combination. It didn’t. In fact, the results were turned around. The 6000CDT/iOne walked all over the respected, award-winning integrated CD player.
I sat there for a bit. Just a bit stunned. And not to say just a bit excited as well.
To repeat, this £500 (or so) transport/DAC combo not only out-performed a top of the line, £1,000 CD player, a CD player that in itself has vanquished most of the immediate competition but it flew way above that CD player’s performance level.
How exactly? Firstly, Audiolab’s now familiar tonal balance. I heard this on the 6000A amplifier and I now heard it on the 6000CDT transport. The notion of allowing bass a position in the overall tonal presentation appears obvious but is rarely, properly heard on hi-fi under £1,000. On the 6000CDT, bass was abundant but never over-arching. It never swamped the soundstage and didn’t here. What it did was make sense of drums, make sense of bass guitar and added weight to the strums of the acoustic guitar. That bass wasn’t just a tone either, it was organic and characterful. There was detail and information here. That separate, isolated DAC decreased noise, increased detail, air and space in and around the midrange, allowing those essential and tiny details to spew forth.
The midrange was never bothered by bass. It occupied its own space and gave the ear more than enough detail to fascinate. The guitar on the Audiolab/iFi combo was now open, informative, sparkling and sounded like a collection of strings pinned to a resonant box. The ‘famous’ CD player muddied the sound, in comparison.
One more notable element, the 6000CDT/iFi produced a quite superb treble response. Light, delicate with reverb tails a-plenty. You could hear the treble on the integrated CD player but you had to work a little to separate it from the background. It sounded a little dull when compared to the 6000CDT/iFi.
Look, I won’t name the CD player. The manufacturer was kind enough to loan it to me and I wasn’t going to reward them by performing a hit job on their pride and joy. Also, I don’t want to point the finger at this CD player and infer that it’s not up to the job. It is up to the job, as an integrated CD player. It remains excellent. A superb CD player. Trouble is, the 6000CDT has just moved the goalposts for all CD players under £1,000. Re-written the script. Invented a whole new ball game.
I then removed the 6000A amplifier and allowed the transport to specialise even further, adding an improved DAC to it. In this case, the Chord Qute HD and swopped over to Rosemary Clooney.
Connected to this specialist DAC, the 6000CDT offered an increase in maturity and sheer quality.
So cymbal taps sounded full and rich in variation while the tubular bell strikes (the wedding bells from the song, I guess) now offered a real, deep, right from the gut response to being hit by the hammers. The bell sound sounded like they started from deep within the bell and rose up from there. The sound was full and rather majestic.
Clooney’s vocal also now had a smile in her voice. She was obviously enjoying herself here. You could actually hear her grinning as she was singing certain lines. The undertone from Clooney was, “This is fun!”
OK, good, good, good. Shall we step it up again? I upgraded the DAC once more to a yet more expensive Benchmark. Switching quickly back to Neil Young, the music now sounded…expensive. Rich and fruity in terms of natural detail with a combination of authority and tonal balance, the 6000CDT shouted quality from the rafters. Everything from the characterful acoustic guitar drums, the decisive thuds from the percussion, the melancholic howl from the lead guitar, the multi-layered response from the harmonica. The effect was wholly impressive.
The enhancements were obviously greatest with the more expensive Benchmark DAC (priced around the £2k-£3k mark) but were just as effective with my old Chord Qute HD (which you can pick up for around £500 from eBay) and the low cost iFi iOne at £200 (or less).
Consider this critical fact, though. The 6000CDT registered and allowed for a vast increase in sonic quality from the iFi iOne to the Chord and from the Chord to the Benchmark. This is further proof that the 6000CDT is not a bottleneck in itself. The CDT6000 has plenty of capacity in terms of sonic improvement. There is no hint that the 6000CDT hampers any future upgrade. Confirmation that the 6000CDT is quality. It can take upgrade, after upgrade, after upgrade and the sound continues to improve. The 6000CDT moves up a gear each time. How far can it go? I have no idea yet. I had to stop somewhere, to publish this review so the jury is out. I have no idea how good the CDT6000 actually is yet. That, my friends, is pretty thrilling stuff.
You should see the 6000CDT as a secure investment to a long (long) term CD upgrade path, therefore.
CONCLUSION
I have to ask you this. Why aren’t we all jumping up and down, celebrating and organising street parties to salute the Audiolab 6000CDT CD transport? This box is a major entrant onto the hi-fi market place. It deserves the plaudits and more.
I had to look twice, no three times, at the price of this transport. The Audiolab screams quality, transforms an integrated amplifier’s built-in DAC, takes full advantage of a separate DAC, raises the quality of your CD music to ceiling busting heights and you’re only paying £379? Ha! Oh, really? Oh, yes.
If you want to play your CD collection with a transport/DAC combination that will not only scare the living bejeebers out of dedicated integrated CD players of five times the price but also threatens to reduce every integrated CD player under £2,500-£3,000 (maybe higher – I just don’t know yet) into aluminium-flavoured jelly, then grab one of these transports and hook it up to your favourite DAC. In fact buy two and keep the other as a backup, just in case.
The 6000CDT revolutionises budget CD play. It’s as simple as that. And that’s why it does the job so well – it’s simplicity. That’s the key to the 6000CDT. It’s not stuffed and bloated with other useless features. Its purity of build and approach lifts CD quality sound to unimagined heights at this price point. As such, it’s well worth membership of the exclusive maximum score club – a Golden Groovy. All hail the Audiolab 6000CDT!
AUDIOLAB 6000CDT CD TRANSPORT
Price: £379
Website: www.audiolab.co.uk
TO BUY CLICK BELOW:
USA – https://amzn.to/3oOmyV9
EUROPE – https://amzn.to/35XkNfB
GOOD: expansive soundstage, tonal realism, 3D presentation, simplicity of design
BAD: nothing
RATING: 10
[Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Group, The Audiophile Man: Hi-Fi & Music here: www.facebook.com/groups/theaudiophileman for exclusive postings, exclusive editorial and more!]
REFERENCE
Benchmark DAC2 HGC
Chord Qute HD DAC
iFi iOne DAC
Leema Essentials CD Player
Aesthetix Calypso pre-amp
Icon Audio MB845 Mk.II monoblock amplifiers
Quad ESL-57 speakers with One Thing upgrade
Blue Horizon Professional Rack System
Really helpful review and just a bought one to go with my Chord Mojo, Rega Brio and Dynaudio Emit 10s. Problem though is audio dropouts of about half a second, distinct switching off and on which is really annoying. I am using AudioQuest Forest Coaxial cable. I suppose some electrical appliance could be triggering the phenomenon. Changed the coaxial to Amazon Basics but same happens. Just wondering if this is a common problem with CD transports.
Thanks Alan
Hi Alan – the only time I’ve had issues like that related to the connecting cable not providing a secure signal. Remove the cable, then reinsert. Make sure the cable is sitting properly in the jack, not being pulled or pushed in any direction. Fiddle around with the thing. Sometimes not pushing the cable fully ‘home’ can fix it. The ideal connection might be somewhere between fully home and out, if you see what I mean? Failing that, try another cable.
Thank you for the prompt reply Paul, appreciated. I’ve tried all you suggested but made no difference even using 3 different coaxial cables. I did change the coaxial for optical and there was no problem but I’m not sold on optical connects except for the TV. I suspect that the Audiolab isn’t pushing out out enough signal or there a buffering problem. Definitely though it is vunerable to interference. So returned this second Audiolab to Amazon and reinserted the Marantz 6006UK CD player connected to my Chord Mojo via coaxial and it works flawlessly. So still keeping an eye open for a capable transport
How odd! I never had an issue myself, Alan, and I tried different configurations in that area. Sorry to hear about that. Have you considered Cambridge’s transport. I have yet to test it but have hear good reports.
Optical is the best way to connect to the mojo, it is recommended by Rob watts the designer.
The green light its low voltage. As line in it could be too low I guess….
Pressing both volume buttons when turning the Mojo on sets it to line level 3mV.
From the Mojo Head Fi forum I know that clicking 4 times minus gets it down to 1.9mV. ( from line level).
Green is about 15 clicks down (in between is turquoise). I wonder what the voltage is then?
Usually around 2mV is adequate. I use mine with color blue intego.
I’m not aware that Audioquest has a digital Forest Coaxial with RCA and 3.5mm plug for Chord Mojo. A correct cable would be i.e. from Chord such as the Clearway with RCA to 3.5mm.
But as David said for Mojo an optical cable would be superior (recom. by Rob Watts).
Optical cables have less problems with EMF interference as I know.
People seem to think jitter is a problem with optical, but not with the chord mojo. Also the output of the mojo has very low noise because it’s designed for IEM headphones. When using it for a desktop dac the output is high at 3v, I drop mine down so the volume colour is green, not sure what the voltage is, but it gives a much better sound. I have also removed the battery from mine and now leave it plugged in all the time without the heat problem.
Yes 2mv is about right, but I find that the mojo with lower output and the amp turned up more gives a better sound. I have tried lots of different combinations.
I’ve noticed these dropouts when switching on a lamp powered by a wall switch outlet.
Changing the switch eliminated the problem.
Dear Mr. Rigby,
As promised, a few thoughts about the Audiolab 6000 CDT CD transport:
Now that my Wireworld Supernova Tosink cable has arrived (very good product), I have heard some of my CDs through my M-DAC and can only confirm your impression that this CD transport is a very good product. It will inherit my CEC TL 5100. Very good stage, great dynamics and (with the Wireworld Supernova) also a very good substance in the bass. I listen with active Klein Hummel studio monitors, which I operate directly via the balanced preamp output of the M-DAC. Previously had a Tellurium Waveform Black for the DAC. Subjectively, Wireworld Supernova offers a better result.. I am now expecting a Tomanek ultra-linear power supply for the M-DAC from Poland and I am excited to see what improvements will be made.
Thank you for your review.
Greetings from Germany
Hi CS – glad you liked it and that your experiences were good. Many thanks for the update.
The green light its low voltage. As line in it could be too low I guess….
Pressing both volume buttons when turning the Mojo on sets it to line level 3mV.
From the Mojo Head Fi forum I know that clicking 4 times minus gets it down to 1.9mV. ( from line level).
Green is about 15 clicks down (in between is turquoise). I wonder what the voltage is then?
Usually around 2mV is adequate. I use mine with color blue intego.
Hello Paul,
Your review on this cd transport is spiky! I bought myself a DAC Atoll 300 and I was just wondering, would my old CD player Rega planet (Mk1) be enough to read my many CDs! I told myself that I had to find a CD transport, even if it was to dig into the user, see in the old man, some of whom had a good reputation in their time! And now I come across your magazine a bit by chance! About the DAC Atoll DAC 300, I would have liked you to review, why with the Audiolab CDT! Hope to read you and thank you for allowing me to discover devices that deserve to be known! Best Regards !
Not a problem Pascal – thanks for reading.
Hi partly as a result of your review I’m buying a silver Audiolab 6000cdt to replace my old Cyrus XT2 transport. Now I know that many will say “why don’t you just get the Cyrus serviced’ but it is ¬£300 and requires me physically take the transport to my nearest dealer (which is a long way now that Creative Audio in Shrewsbury have closed down) and I’ve heard lots of disgruntled Cyrus owners that complain that after servicing they have lots of problems and Cyrus are none too helpful. I have a Roksan K3 DAC which I’ll connect with a coaxial that always makes me nervous (because it is so thick and heavy with lockable RCAs that will demolish most coaxial inputs if you’re not careful). I like the fact that this transport seems to have a tough looking coaxial input lol! Nice and informative review that I hope that the naysayers about cd transports being just 0s and 1s will take note.
Thanks Mark – let me know how you get on with your purchase.
Hi, I’ve lived with 6000cdt now for a couple of weeks and I can report that it sounds now at least as good as my Cyrus XT2 player. However I should just say that I did not think that at first. For the first week I found the sound although good for the price a little distant, lacking in leading edge note definition and a touch ‘hard’ at times. I was impressed but felt it could be better so I had a hard look at the player and noticed that it had an input fuse which is very unusual in cd players (my XT2 doesn’t have one nor does the Arcam CDS72 which I’ve been using). Thinking that this might be a ‘bottleneck’ on performance I ordered an A & R gold fuse (¬£15) to replace the fuse. Wow! What a difference! I would’ve ended up giving it 4 stars and said that it wasn’t quite as good as my Cyrus XT2 (which is more expensive) but with the A & R gold fuse in place all my reservations were ‘blown away’. Musicians/performers took a pace forward, the leading edge of notes was much better and that trace of hardness was gone (I have perfect pitch which is a pain for my wife lol). Now it is definitely 5 stars and worth every penny but PLEASE replace that input fuse!
Ahhh, interesting Mark. Interesting. Nice one and thanks a lot for the tip. You may find the sound loosens up over time too and you are using coax I assume?
Hi Paul I own the 6000cdt and the 6000a through a pair of B&W 606 wonder if you would recommend an external dac to improve already good sound. üòé
Do you have a budget figure in mind?
I haven’t been able to find “A & R gold fuse” but there is AMR Gold Plated Internal Fuses. The manual recommends T630mAL 250V Slow Blow. The closest AMR Gold is 0.5 amps. I’d be very interested in knowing about the one you used.
My understanding is that Mark actually meant AMR. Anyway, I have myself acquired an AMR fuse for the 6000CDT and here is what I have ordered from Analogue Seduction: AMR Audiophile Gold Hi-Fi Fuse 20mm x 5mm; rating: 1.6A. I don’t recall on what basis exactly I chose that rating but I believe it is appropriate although slightly higher than what is recommended by the manufacturer.
I am very happy with the result (better clarity ans purity) and strongly recommend the make the upgrade. However, make sure you order from an AMR approved supplier for I previously acquired fake AMR fuses from Asia and although the sound was super smooth it was also very opaque and quite a bit thick.
So, to be clear, are we talking about the AC mains fuse? The fuse between my 12g Romex fed receptacle and the 6000 CDT’s power transformer? And it made a perceptible improvement to the sonic qualities of the player? Just want to make sure I’m getting this right….. (here’s where your Grandma’s polite advice about “if you don’t have anything nice to say…” kicks in). Crickets.
Yes, and it is accessible from the outside, the fuse receptacle being located immediately above the AC inlet on the back side. Therefore no need to open the 6000CDT.
In my case it made an improvement to the sound pretty much across the board, but the most noticeable aspect is the smoothening of the flow of music which now sounds more natural, less strained. I listen to a lot of classical and this characteristic is important for the enjoyment of the experience. I also have more ambiance when it is part of the recording. Timbres are more natural as well.
Please note that in my system the 6000CDT is connected directly to my Amp’s DAC via a single coax cable and I have changed the fuse inside the amp as well. Replacing the fuse in both units is preferable for it has a synergistic effect, but is not absolutely necessary. The 6000CDT is the best place to start for it is the source. A source of great pleasure I might add.
I am using a W & M Audio Reference coax. Sound is great now and I would actually say it is better than my old Cyrus XT2 (without the PSX-R2 it must be said). I will say that also (I have over 2000 cds) this player will play ‘difficult’ cds that the Cyrus would never play which is a bonus (how many can claim to have a cd collection that is ‘perfect’ throughout?). I did notice that the transport responds to mains cables quite noticeably as well. As with fuses this is a subject that many will cry ‘audiofool’ over but the differences are so great that I don’t need a ‘double blind’ test to hear it is easily noticeable even from the next room. I was actually surprised at the level of improvement by changing the fuse (even though I’ve had good results elsewhere with my equipment – internal fuses make more difference than mains plug fuses IME).
Thanks for the update Mark – that fact that you can hear sonic differences with ancillaries like this is also a testament to the unit’s basic clarity, I would add. Which gives it room for future modification. A good quality shelf, isolation feet and the like for example.
Hi Mark,
I hope you don’t mind me asking but how did you get the fuse in? There doesn’t seem an obvious way to get to it. I can see a dumbell looking indent on the back of my player just above the power cable but I wasn’t sure how to open it. Also thank you for your comments about the Cyrus transport as I was curious about them as I use all Cyrus power amplifiers and Signature dac preamp, but I’m glad to know I’m not missing out using the Audiolab. Thank you Steve
Did you do this test double blind ?.
Hi Dave – I test using a method I’ve developed over the years which tends to take all day for one product and involves A-B, C-D, A-C comparisons, studying a piece of music over time, focusing on individual instruments and so on. As I say, it’s a full day thing. I don’t do double blind, no. I don’t use machines either. All of these so-called foolproof systems are open to bias and none are perfect. I’ve tried them all and discarded them all. Although plenty will disagree with me of course, I find my system works for me.
Hey Paul, I accidentally stumbled upon your review of the Audiolab 6000CDT as I am researching a replacement for my NAD C 546BEE CD player. Other components in my system are NAD C658 streaming DAC, Rotel RSP 1582 premap, Parasound A21 amp and Focal Electra 1038 BE. My question to you is, Would replacing the NAD CD player with Audiolab 6000CDT make a difference in my system?
Yes. Next question? 🙂 Seriously though I’d grab the CDT and then just upgrade your DACs when you have the cash to hear improved sound quality. Use the coax socket as the preferred connection method, though.
Thank you for your reply üëç. As you expected, one last question…any DAC you recommend in the 3K price range.
Hi DJ – check out this one from Schiit: https://www.schiit.co.uk/dacs/yggdrasil
Also look at the Benchmark DAC3 HGC and the Auralic Vega G1.
Thank you!
I own both the Cambridge CXC and now the Audiolab 6000CDT. Paul encourages us to share our experiences so here goes, my first review!
The CXC partnered a DacMAgic, the performance of the latter much enhanced by a Russ Andrews power supply. When I bought an Audiolab 6000N streamer, I was very impressed by the sheer heft of the streamed music and the weighty power supply at the heart of this unit started me thinking. I also enjoyed the detail of the ESS DAC chipset in this unit, which easily outperformed my old Cambridge DAC.
Cue Black Friday and a good deal on the MDAC Plus, featuring a meaty power supply and the same ESS chip. Wow! What an upgrade! Now the 6000CDT became very appealing. £379 seemed a low risk. Paul’s review speaks of the attention paid to the power arrangements. I took the plunge.
And have not a single regret. The natural ambience of each instrument, the air around it, the fullness of the decay to each note, the beautiful tuneful bass, the solid imagery of the separate elements making up the whole ensemble, all repeat to my ears the accuracy of Paul’s review and the quality of this unit.
The CXC is very good. It and the DacMAgic are now my second system for casual listening while cooking! But the 6000CDT is a winner. And my son now enjoys the 6000N as my MacBook feeds my digital files and Qobuz hi-res directly to the MDAC Plus! Result!
Interesting stuff, thanks for that Ron.
You didn’t mention whether you A/B’d the 2 CD transports on the same DAC. That would be the only meaningful comparison.
I thought I had listed how and what I did in the review. But no matter. Throughout the review, either two sources were used as the stable element and the DAC was the variable or vice versa.
H Paul,
Firstly, I hope you are staying safe in these highly unusual times!
I wonder if you are still offering advice on this thread subject?
If so I would be deeply grateful for any comments you may have regarding my situation?
I have a Chord Qutest DAC, Rega Elex-R Amp, Kef LS50 speakers.
At the moment I am using a borrowed Audiolab 8300CD as a transport only. Overall the sound is pretty good, but I’m sure I can get better from the Qutest-based system.
I need to give the cd player back to its rightful owner and hence I need to buy a CD transport.
I want to get the best I can from the Qutest, which is a great DAC.
I’ve seen your review of the Audiolab 6000CDT and I know this is the same transport as the 8300CD, so I know the sort of quality I could get simply by purchasing the 6000CDT.
However, if I can better this, then I would like to do that. I know “better” is subjective!
For instance I was considering the Cyrus machines CD-t and CD-XT Signature, although I appreciate that the CD-XT would be a serious jump in money.
What would your thoughts be on these comparative items; I am more concerned with getting the best from my Qutest-based system, so if it meant spending up to say £1500 on a transport to do it then I probably would.
Many thanks in advance.
Mick.
I’m giving advice on every post currently present on this site, Mick. So no worries on that score 🙂 I haven’t done a comparative test with the Cyrus, I’m afraid so my answer can only be partial. What I did find with the CDT, though, was that it never presented itself as a bottle neck. Hence, even with ¬£3,000 DACs, it was never the weak point in the chain (connected via coax, I must stress). This is one proof that I have that the CDT is quality. The performance I gauged, the variable, is not the CDT, it’s the DAC. The CDT does enough to allow performance upgrades to be measured into the many thousands of pounds. Hence, the better the DAC, the better the CDT performs.
Paul,
Thanks for your very quick response!
I appreciate that it’s difficult for you to give any more of a detailed response when you’ve not done a direct comparison.
From what you’ve said, I would read that you wouldn’t necessarily expect the 6000CDT to give that sort of transparency and headroom in its performance (which is perhaps not that much of a surprise for a machine that costs a respectable ¬£379).
Thanks again, Paul. I shall mull it over further to the point that I’m driving myself mad and then make a decision! 🙂
Paul – Thank you for your review on this CD transport. You have created a dilemma for me. I have been considering the CD transport from Heed Audio. I have been a bit hesitant as I don’t see that many reviews or comments on the Heed transport (for being available for a fair number of years). Your review is very timely and very informative. I am sorry to put you on the spot. I know that you have not reviewed the Heed CD transport but do you think that this transport could be noticeably better than a new CD transport selling under $1,000? Heed Audio is far more well known in Europe than in the US. Any insight from the Audiophile Man is truly appreciated.
Stay safe
Hi Michael – I like Heed a lot. You’ll find Heed items reviewed on this site and, I think, everyone of them has received a good review. They know their stuff. Hence, if you did plump for that transport then I would take an educated guess that it would perform very well indeed and you won’t be disappointed. I’m afraid that’s all I can do, though because I have not heard it, I was never offered it for review or made aware by the company that it was even out and about, at the time of release.
Thank you, Paul! Your feedback and favorable reviews on Heed Audio mean a lot. I like to buy equipment and then just enjoy for many years. I’m glad that I have an opportunity to compare both the Audiolab and Heed Audio transports. I will look beyond cost. I know that Audiolab is a great company. Just didn’t know about Heed Audio. Again, your response is very helpful. I look forward to reading your latest thoughts soon ! Take care, Paul!