Price Paid:  $0.00 from 0

Summary:
If your looking for a full dynamic CD player maybe you should avoid this unit,but if your looking a player that creates a dramatic midrange with stunning soundstaging and "you are there" seating then by all means audition this player.Matching amps and speakers is very critical with this unit,I notice with equipment with cold signatures tends to highlight them traits,but with equipment that leans towards warmth the spacial bloom is incredible.I would put this unit against equipment that cost $$$$ more.Built quality is first class,controls are laid out in a sensible manner,and it looks damn good also.

Strengths:
midrange magic,commestically its one of the better players around within its price cap.Leans more towards the warm side and system matching is critical.

Weaknesses:
lacks abit of dynamic pace at the frequency extremes

Similar Products Used:
Sonic Frontier,Wadia,Sony ES series.

Summary:
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 ;)

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

Weaknesses:
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).

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)

Summary:
I have owned the EAD T-1000 cd transport paired with the DSP-7000 Series III DAC for five years. I've found the combination to be a wonderful cd player. It is very smooth and very, very natural and musical. It has a more analog sound than any other cd player I've listened to. That is not to say that it lacks clarity and definition, because it is very detailed and clear, and it is very dynamic. But it is not as clinical and harsh as most other cd players. At the time that I bought it I was intending to go with Meridian (I was replacing a Meridian 207 Pro circa 1987), but the Meridian had a much harsher tone to it (the Audio Research by contrast had all the warmth you could ever want but was not at all dynamic--totally uninvolving). The EAD was the only one that to me had the perfect combination of clarity and warmth.

Strengths:
Wonderful, musical sound.

Weaknesses:
Discontinued

Similar Products Used:
Auditioned versus Meridian, CAL, Audio research, and Wadia

Summary:
I purchased this unit initially in 1996 but took the first unit back because of a glitch in one of the channels. I actually picked up the dealer's demo unit (I really can't call it a demo since he only used it two weeks) and it has been going strong ever since. I believe that the quality of the head unit or lack of will be multiplied or enhanced by inferior equipment and lines out by way of the speakers. I've run this unit on top of a seismic sink and used moderately priced interconnects through a Audible Illusions preamp which are routed to a pair of monoblock GTA SE-40 and then connected (bi-wired) to the VR4s a couple of feet away. Playing a Patricia Barber CD or even one by Enya gives a sense of "being there" or at least in the vicinity and if my turntable ever failed me (heaven forbid), I could survive for a while. I plan to acquire a 24 bit DAC from EVS and although I expect it will be tremendous, I still have good memories of the basic unit.

Strengths:
Smooth, liquid, warm sound.

Weaknesses:
Not as dynamic as a Mark Levinson but at what cost???

Summary:
I have lived with the T-1000 transport for over 5 years. I bought it based on it's rave in Stereophile, and because it was the only resonably priced transport with an ATT glass output jack. At the store, it sounded better via D60 Kimber coax (silver digitsl interconnect). I have since auditioned this transport in 3 friends systems as well as my own. When listening to this transport by itself, it fairs well. When comparing this transport to others (as well as single CD players), this transport never fails to disapoint. It never seems musically enjoyable, and is almost always bettered by whatever is being compared (except for the Proceed all in one player, used as a transport). The 10ga XLO power cord helped considerably, but still no cigar. Sonically, this transport excels in nothing. The only reason I keep it, is for it's rugged build quality(I gave it 2 stars for quality based on the build). If I did not have another transport however, I would have certainly got rid of it by now. Thanks Stereophile for the recomendation.

Strengths:
Build Quality, Reliability

Weaknesses:
Soundstaging and Delicacy

Similar Products Used:
Wadia 22, Transport