Great with vocals, good with jazz and classical, build is excellent, reliability, warm and analog-like, excellent imaging.

Not the best with heavy music and large dynamic shifts (in my system and with my DAC), no display off, ugly remote (but very abuse resistant).

I've had my EAD T1000 transport for about two years after purchasing it together with the DSP 1000 series II DAC (non HDCD) for about $500 used.

Before purchasing it I was using a mid-fi NAD player, so maybe the gains in performance I experienced will not be as earth shattering to other users more familiar with high end products.

Even though I am using what I assume is a relatively pooh-pooh DAC, I still get some fantastic results, particularly with small-scale classical, jazz and female vocals.

I use the EAD combo, strung together with Monster M 1000D, with a Harman Kardon 1400 amplifier (74WPC into 4 ohms - 1995 model) and a pair of the fantastic Acoustic Energy Aegis Ones - other cables are all Cable Talk.

The amp, however, is on the way out and will be replaced by a Plinius 2100i - when I find one used, that is.

Anyhow, the sound I get from my current set-up is pretty good considering the diverse elements.

Vocals are fantastic, clearly nuanced and detailed, with just a slight bit of upper-treble mid-fi funk courtesy of the Harman amp, but it's in no way excessively annoying or fatiguing.

Still, it's there - won't deny it.

Details come through fine, but also will improve once I change the Harman.

What I do get in spades is presence and imaging - very real, very there - but certainly not completely holographic as I've heard through a Plinius/Accuphase/AE 5/Transparent set-up. Argh, stunningly beatiful - but could buy two houses for the price of that system, though!

The EAD combo is fantasmo with jazz - especially trumpet (hoooo that imaging!) and piano, sax and upright bass, but it's not the best for heavy rock or BIG classical pieces.

The rest of my gear is probably the limiting factor here - as the Aegis are none too dynamic themselves, and the Harman, even though it kicks out 43-odd amps, is getting very long in the tooth.

But all said, the EAD combo is really pretty good - I know I'm not really qualified to rate it with its peers as I've never listened to any other CD players in my chain, but I think it'll be the last piece that I upgrade - maybe not the DAC, though.

I'd appreciate any suggestions as to what DACs I should try once I decide to make the upgrade. Just not too expensive, okay ;)

Similar Products Used:

My first real CD player - although I've heard Marantz CD 17 KI, Rotel RB 991, Theta Pearl, Musical Fidelity X Ray, and Roksan Caspian in dealers' dem rooms (so not really able to say that I auditioned them extensively and know their relative strengths and/or weaknesses)

I recently purchased this receiver with birthday money, $359 of birthdaymoney at that :-) I used to have a Pioneer SX-3600 Which, honestly, was
lacking in many ways. Since I hooked up this receiver, I have noticed a huge
sound improvement with my Cerwin Vega Re-30's. It sounds very good with
Cassette movies or LaserDiscs, I almost felt like I was at the theater. It has
plenty of power for whatever type of speakers you want to power, 150Watts
per channel.It also has 3-way Surround sound capability with 5 sound modes
including Studio, Arena, Simulated surround(if you don't have surround sound
speakers, it uses your 2 front speakers to simulate surround sound), 3 channel
logic, Dolby Prologic surround. It also has many other features, too many
more to list. The only downside I can find with this receiver, if there really is
one, is that I think there should be more sound fields, and they probably
should have added DSP processing. To decide for yourself whether this is the
receiver for you, demo it at your local retailer.