"If it turns out that Transporter is substantially better (measured as the audible improvement in the sound quality), it may be justifiable to pursue it on audiogon"
========================================================================= TRANSPORTER AS A DIGITAL SOURCE (My reading of forum opinion here) =============================== "Substantially better"...no way. "Lot better?"...no. "Discernibly better?"..no. "Subtly better?"...yes, but yopu need a very revealing High end system to tell, and even then it could be interpreted as "different rather than better" by some. =============================== See many posts on here which includes measurements not just subjective opinion. The TP shades the Touch as a digital transport...but were talking what, 5%? Not worth paying all that extra $ for...IMHO you'd get far better bang for your buck spending MUCH less and buy a Touch, and mod the Caiman with Mutara Regs, Linear PSU, Passive mod with film (as opposed to electrolytic) Caps. Honestly..just dont buy a Transporter if "substantially better" sound quality is your goal. HOWEVER THE TRANSPORTER HAS OTHER THINGS GOING FOR IT OTHER THAN THE PERCEIVED SOUND QUALITY OVER THE TOUCH. If any of these things are relevant - and more important to you than absolute sound quality as a transport, and you have the cash - go for it. ========================================================================= As far as modding my Caiman goes, the only thing holding me back is the burn in time. Because of that, I'd hate to reset the DAC to the day one, after I mod it. Do you have any experience with the burn in time after the mods? Yeah, I can comment on that. Each mod improves the sound out of the box, as in right away. Theres no backwards step in sound quality mate...each one inproves the Dac right away, then gets better over time. I've been running in film caps with my passive mod for about a week now and I can tell you the passive mod (direct feed from the Dac chip with DC coupling into caps - no need for an opamp output stage) is a fantastic improvement - not subtle in any way. If you like we can talk more about the Dac side of things... So, if its sound quality your focussing on...no need to get a Transporter unless its other features are of importance. Its got a great Dac in it, but your Caiman is on its level. Mod it...well. You'll see. For the record I have heard a modded Transporter with a valve output stage and it was fantastic. Costs $$$'s though unlike the Caiman Mods. Its all about how you will use the equipment, not about what it can do on paper. Why pay $$$ for stuff you wont get any use from? -- Gazjam ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gazjam's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=18604 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=82520 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
