i have a california audio labs sigma 2 dac. i'm looking to get a new transport and am considering either the california audio labs delta transport or the rotel rcd-1072. i found a used cal audio delta for 350 and figure it might match well with my sigma 2. has anybody heard these 2? could anybody offer any advice? thank you
What kind of sonic differences are you expecting between transports exactly? There are certainly quality differences that will affect longevity, but even the $20 CD/DVD drive in your PC accurately reads all the data of every music CD you pop in, so long as the disc isn't screwed to all hell and the drive is working properly.
I'd personally look at the quality of construction of the two units, and use the aesthetics of having matching components as a tiebreaker if needed.
However, John, there are a number of considerations when choosing a transport. The pickup unit could be from Phillips or Sony. The lens itself could be in a number of diffusion configurations. The inner case could be lined with a light dampening material, or not. The power supply(!) could be small, or large; internal or external mount, with the associated quality wiring, inducing the minimal noise possible(or not). The DAC's power supply might be capable of powering the trans, this configuration is desireable(as much as I read).
A lot of stuff to consider, and not much I can help with at the moment, I have some links on the other pc.