Bummer, I love my scratch free transport. I wonder if it was certain production run that produced the scratch inducing machines. It is so weird how some do and some don't.
I’ve had mine for six months now, playing it a couple hours every day, and not a single scratch. It’s a wonderful transport. They need to get a handle whatever is causing this problem for some people before it ruins the company’s name. I’m done with Rega because they they won’t acknowledge the issues with their lame ass mechanisms.
I love Rega products and the company in general but having gone through the misery of many CD players gone bad I’ll steer clear of their CD decks. As for the Audiolab transport, I’d rather have a few scuffs that play just fine than a deck that won’t play perfect cd’s. I’m very much a perfectionist so I get not wanting anything to scuff my precious collection. No doubt, I feel that. I’m going to be 61 on Sunday…I’m at a point where sound and value are paramount to me. I get fantastic sound from my Audiolab transport. Actually from both as I have two. I have no investment in what happens to the discs when I’m gone. They are here for me to enjoy now and that is exactly what I am doing. Being a heathen I also play scuffed LP’s…
I sold mine and got the Rotel CD11 Tribute which is very comparable to the Audiolab in sound quality.
Have they released the RRP? It is hard to determine what price range they are aiming it at from the press release. Not sure if it is replacing the Kandy or if it is a new range below it. Edit: Looks like it is £499 so below the Kandy.
You've got me thinking about keeping my 6000CDT ! I've since bought a Rotel, but I'm thinking ..... as none of my discs were rendered unplayable and the marks I actually noticed occurred very rarely and were very minimal, it may be worth keeping the 6000, because it does sound fantastic. Food for thought ...... thanks.
It seems random. Affects 1 in 10 CD's I play if not less. TBH all my CD's are pretty much second hand from charity shop or music magpie and it doesn't impact play so not overly bothered with it. Ideally it shouldn't scuff the CD but life is too short to worry over something that actually doesn't cause a problem. Now on the other hand if it was rendering CD's unplayable that would be a different matter.
Out in september, 625€, this might be interesting. No slot loading (which I hate). Awaiting reviews !
Having read this thread through I had to check my CDs for scratches, happily there were none so my 2019 model Audiolab 6000CDT is ok. I am disappointed to hear some owners have been having problems though.
I think you should check if the scratched CDs will play on transports other than the Audiolab which will likely be fine due to it's buffering. Sticking with my Cambridge CXC which has been fine apart from the memory once scrambling somehow and getting stuck on random. Cured by unplugging from mains for a couple of hours which cleared the memory.
I remember the old Attessa a much more substantial top loading affair. This will likely be many times the cost of the Audiolab and Cambridge models.
I have seen very, very few and it’s very light. They play on every other CD player I have. I see more marks on some brand new discs than these.
Roksan is a brand that I have heard quite a few times but never owned. It’ll be interesting to see what the U.S. price will be and read the first few reviews.
I really like mine too and mine is not a scratcher but it is really disappointing to read about some of these transports scratching CDs. It seems so random too. I wonder if something gets jarred when they're being shipped. They seem to be packed really well though in the factory carton.
Yeah, the couple that appeared on my discs weren't really what you would define as your standard "scratch" on a CD. They're more like a tiny scuff, there were some pictures posted earlier. My guess, because it's so random, is it's not the cause of whatever grabs the disc, or it would happen all the time. Maybe something isn't quite aligned when the disc passes in and out of the slot at times. In the promo for the unit, Audiolab state the slot loading mechanism comes from a car audio design point, so it would be interesting to see the mechanism itself in operation, as there seem to be different designs.
I check my CDs occasionally. I used to have a SACD player so I have a lot of MFSL hybrid SACDs and I like the CD layer. I have other CDs that I'd like to keep NM. I think that if I started seeing scratches I stop using it. You can get a refurbished Cambridge transport for $350. I've played a lot of discs in the Audiolab so I think I'm OK. ( famous last words )
I purchased my Audiolab on December 2020, which means that I have it for seven months now. I play it almost every day for at least a few hours per day. There are no scratches on any of my CDs. I used to check constantly the first month with a bright flashlight and I still check occasionally. I cannot see any scratches. I am playing mostly new CDs that I purchase so any new scratches should be clearly visible. But there are none.
I have a Roksan Caspian FM Tuner that is great. I have a bunch of tuners and it is a favorite so I got a second one. Probably be my last one, except maybe my classic Rotel.
