We looked it up and our last update dates back to January 11th 2025. So it was time for a new ‘Fresh Blood’ because over the past months a few significant changes have been made and we don’t want to keep them from you.
As you may have read in my previous post, I’ve been looking for a new CD transport for a quit a while now and after making a shortlist, it settled on the Jay’s Audio CDT2 MK2. This transport is a top loader that uses a Philips CDM4/19 drive. It is a beautiful unit, built like a tank, and a lovely thing to use. I tested it in March 2020 and it has always stayed with me.
The ritual of opening the tray, putting down the puck and closing it again is reminiscent of listening to a vinyl record. To top things off, I use a Headquarter Audio’s custom-made Q-Stab puck to squeeze out every last ounce out of this great player. The MKII has four inputs (coax, aes, bnc and i2s), more than enough to test any dac that comes in. The beautiful remote control is the proverbial icing on the cake.
Weiss DAC205
A second major change is my new d/a converter. For years, I enjoyed listening to the amazing Sonnet Morpheus and it was with pain in the heart that I parted ways with it. But after testing the Weiss DAC204, i just had to make the change. Since I never play through USB, I ended up choosing the scaled-down DAC205. The Weiss DAC205 is a lot less user-friendly than the Sonnet, it only has two inputs, coaxial and optical, and no remote control but that doesn’t outweigh the step up in playback.
The DAC205 allows me to test even better and in the end that what it’s all about for me. I detect micro details more easily and the 205 has better dispersion were. Two things that were crystal clear in a direct comparison and so there was no turning back. With a after market power supply, an S-Booster, you can take this dac to a very high level.
Hifiman HE400se
Occasionally I test a device that has a headphone jack, so I bought a budget-friendly but great Hifiman HE400se headphone. I am no headphone specialist, we have colleague Yung on the team for that, but I still wanted to be able to test built in headphone amps to make my reviews even more complete.
Cables and power
Some changing in cables and power management were also made. We bought a sturdy Wireworld Matrix 2 power strip and an Audio Essentials power cord for the Moon. My Moon never really got along with the Ricable Magnus powercable. Another addition is the Sommer Epilogue XLR cable and colleague Martijn gave me an Audioquest Forest, thank you, to try with the Weiss.
So, that’s it from me. Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!
Reference System March 2026
Canton Reference 9
Elac Debut 3.0 B6.3
Simaudio Moon 600i V2
Weiss DAC205 (with Sbooster power supply)
Sonnet Hermes
Jay’s Audio CDT2 MK2
Isotek Aquarius Evo3
D-Link DGS-108 (with Sbooster power supply)
Driade Flow 405 speaker
Ricable Magnus xlr
Sommer Epilogue xlr
Driade Flow 808 rca
Ricable Magnus rca
Ricable Magnus coax
Audioquest Forest coax
Ricable Magnus power cord
Essential Audio Tools power cord
Van den Hul Optocoupler MKII optical
Bassocontinuo Cymbalon 2.1