Herb Reichert of Stereophile has been an anti CD guy for 40 years. That has disappointed me because he should have known better.

Often his writing on music and other gear is in line with my perceptions. Why has he been so OFF on CDs?

I almost fell off my chair a few months ago when he said CDs have now come of age and he’s fully on board. Why the change?

He reviewed a Teac transport- running into his expensive DAC. That, he said, was a game changer.

What had he used before the Teac?

I shudder to say, his transport was a $250 CD player.

I had no idea that he was assessing CD sound quality on his Amazon Onkyo.

Using THAT as a CD transport in a high end system is akin to using a $250 AT turntable with garden variety cartridge to evaluate the state of the art of vinyl.

While CD players have improved over the years, we had outstanding players from the likes of California Audio Labs by the middle 80s. We sold many. Our customers loved ‘em.

This brings me to his review of a Shanling CD transport in the Oct 25 issue. In short, he likes the $900 Shanling. He says it isn’t as good as the Teac, but it’s good, and cheaper. Of course it’s cheaper. It’s made in China (PRP) by a company that makes over 70 lines of equipment under that many names. It’s a job house. The unit is 2.5h, 7.4w, 10d and weighs 5 pounds- similar to a cable TV box.

If you have been around electronics for any length of time, you’ll know this construction isn’t inspiring. What’s more, Shanling doesn’t have a US service center. What could go wrong?! But hey, this only weighs 5 pounds. Ship it to back to China.

He would have done his readers a better service by reviewing the Atoll DR100 transport, $1200. It’s made in France, not China, and comes with a three year warranty. It’s a normal sized component where there’s room for through hole parts. Wires aren’t running over/around components- generating RFI. It is made by Atoll, a family owned company, in its own house IN FRANCE. It isn’t vendored out. Atoll has a broad dealer base in the US along with an outstanding service center in Chicago.

I’m not saying the Shanling is no good.

I am saying the Atoll is a smarter buy. Oh, did you know Atoll uses Teac transports in its CD players and transports?