Audiolab 6000CDT experience

[Deleted member 70178]

Hello everyone,

I recently acquired a 6000CDT transport and while I love everything about it, I've been experiencing a strange issue that through a lot of testing I have narrowed down to the cd transport. I hope any other fellow owners of the 6000CDT and chime in in case you have experienced the same, or even better, help me do some quick testing to see if I may have received a faulty unit.

Essentially, music playback from the 6000CDT through coaxial output is interrupted for a brief moment when an electric discharge occurs. This can happen if I touch any of the components in my audio system rack while charged with static or even if I listen through headphones as it seems static travels through the cable into the system. This interruption of playback does not happen if I use the optical output, only through coaxial.

Just for additional context, this is all I have tried so far and everything points at the 6000CDT:

• Tried two different coaxial cables (blue jeans and amazon basics). Issue persists when using the CDT with either cable
• Tried an alternative cd player outputting signal through coax into the DAC. Issue does not happen with the alternative cd player
• Tried two different DACs. Issue appears with both as long as I’m using the CDT through coaxial. Issue does not appear with either DAC if I use the alternative cd player or optical output
• Tried two different sets of headphones. One with a plastic body (sennheiser hd600) and the other with metal frame (hifiman sundara). Music gets interrupted when using CDT through coax. Issue does not present itself when using alternative cd player or optical ouput.
• Used multiple electrical outlets around the house, both grounded and ungrounded and 3 different power conditioner/power strips and multiple coax cable/DAC/cd player. Music only gets interrupted while using the 6000CDT through coax regardless of configuration of the aforementioned elements.

I will be addressing the issue of static buildup with a humidifier; however I would like to know if this issue could be the result of a faulty unit given all testing points at the CDT. If indeed I could have received a defective unit, I’m still within the return window with the distributor.

Thanks for your time everyone!

Hi, same problem led me here. Exactly the same, coax and all.

Did you ever solve your issue, do you have any more insight? I have had only for a few weeks but don't feel like doing an exchange if it's going to be the same thing.

Thank you

 

[Tarkus1984]

Hi, same problem led me here. Exactly the same, coax and all.

Did you ever solve your issue, do you have any more insight? I have had only for a few weeks but don't feel like doing an exchange if it's going to be the same thing.

Thank you

Thanks for contacting me through DM, @Perception . I'm pasting the contents of our exchange here for anyone else looking for additional insights.

Unfortunately I had to send back two different units of the 6000CDT to Amazon as both scratched some of my cd's and both presented the audio cutting off due to (seemingly) static electricity discharges. I even had an electrician come to the house and install a new ground connection specific to the outlets I use for my audio equipment hoping that any static electricity causing the intermittent audio would flow to ground. Unfortunately, this did not help either.

I also contacted Audiolab directly through their website to ask about this issue and they just referred me to the distributor I had acquired my unit from. In the end, I just opted to send the units back to Amazon.

Hope this info helps someone else.

 

[Deleted member 70178]

Thanks for contacting me through DM, @Perception . I'm pasting the contents of our exchange here for anyone else looking for additional insights.

Unfortunately I had to send back two different units of the 6000CDT to Amazon as both scratched some of my cd's and both presented the audio cutting off due to (seemingly) static electricity discharges. I even had an electrician come to the house and install a new ground connection specific to the outlets I use for my audio equipment hoping that any static electricity causing the intermittent audio would flow to ground. Unfortunately, this did not help either.

I also contacted Audiolab directly through their website to ask about this issue and they just referred me to the distributor I had acquired my unit from. In the end, I just opted to send the units back to Amazon.

Hope this info helps someone else.

Thanks for your replay, I appreciate it. I just have it connected via optical and it does not have that issue. Retailer is sending me another unit but they are back ordered I feel it's going to be the same thing.

The unit I have doesn't scratch CD's at all and I don't mind the slot loading. I feel like it has the upper hand over the AXC35 and CXC, it sounds better then the first one and it reads discs far more easily even if in fair condition.

 

[Tarkus1984]

Thanks for your replay, I appreciate it. I just have it connected via optical and it does not have that issue. Retailer is sending me another unit but they are back ordered I feel it's going to be the same thing.

The unit I have doesn't scratch CD's at all and I don't mind the slot loading. I feel like it has the upper hand over the AXC35 and CXC, it sounds better then the first one and it reads discs far more easily even if in fair condition.

I think the feature I liked the most about the Audiolab was its ability to read pretty banged up CDs like nobody's business. If using optical solves the intermittend audio issue and if your unit does not scratch CDs, I think you have a winner.

In my case optical was not an option as that input in my DAC was already being usef for my streamer. Otherwise, I think I would have kept it.

 

[JohnM-73]

I’ve owned mine for almost 3 years now. Never a problem (to date, touch wood/everything!) with even the slightest of CDs being scratched, but I’ve always had the same issue with coaxial spdif. Would seem to be a design flaw alas. Fortunately I use optical most of the time and otherwise have been delighted with its performance. Wonder if fitting a mains filter inside it might cure the issue? Audiolab don’t seem interested.