MOON 260D CD Transport with optional DAC

The 10-year warranty is a major clue

That level of warranty - for any product - is unusual and exception. It should be your first clue to the products of Moon whose focus on in-house manufacturing and quality stand apart from its peers. This is a beautifully built product especially the well-engineered CD tray which is a common (mechanical) Achilles heel for CD players. This is a transport to last 20+ years. All of the features one would want are on the attractive face panel (or remote) including an actual display of track/time that can be seen across even a larger room. If you find that red display distracting, a mere click hides it. While the 260 or its 24-bit DAC is not exactly new in the Moon line-up, incremental “tweaks” over the years at times helps keep it a relevant, core item for those who still resonate with physical media. Downsides? It is not designed for SACD formats. While disappointing, it is likely the build costs that would go into that capability at the $3600 price point were focused elsewhere. So look at it as one of the better transports to extract the best sound for the 95% of discs one has that are normal CD format.