The sound is sumptuous and real, detailed with an unbelievable image.

very seductive almost addicting

I first heard the CEC TL1-x at the Home Entertainment show in NYC. This was the transport of choice in many of the high end rooms. I have it mated with a DCS Delius and the Purcell upsampler using a Siltech digital interconnect(RCA).

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•Wonderful soundstaging, analog-like detailing, no glare when using ST optic output.
•Well-constructed, but that's to be expected at this price level.

•Can be a tad "soft" in the bass 'slam-wise', compared to some of its peers - if not used with a decent aftermarket power cord. I have a Voodoo Power Cords "Dragon" on this player, which works very well.
•Not an elaborate interface like some other high-end drives - fairly basic remote & front panel controls.

This is about the 'newer' version of the C.E.C. TL-1, the TL-1X. The '1X now retails for $5650. US, but I snagged this "Manufactured: April 2000" unit for much less. I'm not sure what improvements were made to the '1X over the '1, but they must have been worthwhile by the sound of things.

Although I've considered myself an "audiophile" for the majority of 3 decades, I've always been highly skeptical of how much a CD transport would affect the sound of a front-end, as long as the DAC is doing a good job vis-a-vis jitter, noise, linearity, power supply, etc. The TL-1X changed my preconceptions on all of that.

This unit is connected via ST fiber optic to a Pass Labs D1 DAC, which is what I think contributes greatly to its exceptional performance. I've tried various other digital links with this combo, including the NBS Mon.IV coax & Mon. II AES, Silver Audio Silver Stream coax, Acoustic Zen MC2=Zen coax, HAVE/Canare Digiflux Gold coax, and XLO Signature 4.1 coax.

IMO, the ST link threw a much larger and believeable soundstage than any of the other links, and separated the instruments from the speakers; as well as beating all of the other's with a very analog-like smoothness. Apparently, the ST link is much more accurate digitally than either the coax or AES outputs. It also doesn't hurt that the optical receiver in the Pass unit is considered the best in the industry.

The TL-1X is very immune to outside influences, especially when mounted on Aurios M.I.B.s under cone footers. You want an isolation test? Try to keep a laser assembly from skipping while playing a pair of Nautilus 803's at 150-200 tube w.p.c., with a REL Stentor III sub in the corner of a 19.5' x 13.5' room. Add to that: me bashing away on a full-sized Tama Starclassic drum kit (complete with Paiste's!). I have yet to hear the TL-1X skip a whisker during a practice session. I'm sure that the suppied ceramic disc weight helps to contribute to this excellent performance as well.

Sonically, the TL-1X absolutely KILLED other top-shelf CD spinner's that I've compared it to, such as the Krell MD-10, Audio Research CD-2, various marantz models, a Muse and a Roksan. The only one I've heard against the TL-1X that even comes close is the top Levinson deck, but even that pricy monster doesn't have the inherent smoothness, the "rightness", of this C.E.C. The C.E.C./Pass pairing sounds ALMOST as good as my analog rig in many areas, but that's another story!

So, who in their right mind wants to pay around $5-Large, just to spin an "old-tech" Red Book disc? After I heard this player, I did. You haven't heard what a 16/44 disc, or ANY digital source, can do until you've reached this level.

I'm done shopping for a CD front-end.

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•See main text.

Wonderful soundstage and detail

A sizale piece of equipment, though that is not really a wekaness...

Just came back from the shop where I bought the transport and I am waiting for my Kora DAC to shoot me out of this world...guess I will go intergalactic soon...the sound of this transport is beyond belief and the looks are drop dead...I agree with the other guy...like a beautiful woman...but now you can have the transport and the woman..because any woman would melt at hearing the sound coming out of this transport....

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This review is of the TL1-X: Appears to extract all the data present on the disk, and delivers it with ultra low jitter. Excellent mechanical isolation. Build quality beyond reproach. Beautiful to look at.

My system:
Nestorvic speakers
Adcom 75-Gfp pre
Bruce Moore Dual 75 Amp
Goldmund Meta Research 1 DAC
PS Audio P600
XLO and MIT interconnects ,Monster speaker cable and Cardas digital
Tried various cd/dvd players as transports: JVC 1050 , Toshiba 2190, Panasonic A310 etc.

As good as my system sounded to me I knew that the transort was the week link in the chain. And was still disapointed in the overall coherency of the sound; so I decided to try the CEC transport through Audio Advisor. What the heck 30 day return policy. As soon as I turned it on I knew thatI was in for some fun. The entire personality of the music coming out of my system changed. It was like a beatiful woman just sat down next to me ,and she smells good. Totally seductive sound. All the good stuff: dynamics, soundstage, detail, air, etc. One of the most notable changes is the image size and density, man! I guess I am in love.
P.S. I did get the last one and payed about half the original price so good value to me.