Is it possible to improve the best?

certainly

CEC Belt Drive CD Transport TL 0 3.0
Music reproduction on its highest level

CEC Belt Drive CD Transport TL 0 3.0
Surpassing the finest - since 1954

In every respect the new TL 0 3.0 embodies a level of perfection that is unprecedented and breathtaking. Handcrafted and assembled in Japan, each TL 0 3.0 is rigorously
tested after completion and then “burned in” before beingcertified.
CEC is legendary for precision. Conventional CD transports tend to amplify even the slightest vibration in the reflective surface of the disc due to the distance the laser
beam has to travel. These micro-vibrations scatter lightand reduce the integrity of the digital data stream. The TL
0 3.0’s revolutionary three part chassis suppresses microvibrations and resonances that cause unwanted jitter in thedata stream. The elimination of jitter greatly reduces thedistortion that too often characterizes CDs as digital rather
than musical. CEC has achieved superior isolation of theTL 0 3.0 drive mechanism by using three spiked feet and04 CEC The Drive | www.cec-international.com

a rubber-damped three-point suspension. The drive mechanism is a massive 30 mm sandwich of non magnetic
materials with dissimilar resonances: a 20 mm aluminum
plate and a 10 mm brass plate. To assure undisturbed
operation of the laser pickup, all sources of electro-magnetic interference are physically isolated.
The massive regulated power supply is housed in a separate chassis that may be located up to 1.5meters from theTL 0 3.0 drive mechanism chassis. The drive electronics
are enclosed in a 20mm thick nonmagnetic anodized aluminum chassis isolated from the main drive mechanism.
The drive and laser motors are electronically, magnetically,
and mechanically isolated from the laser pickup and turntable, coupled only by two precision drive belts. The discdrive motor is a cog-free low torque design that is inherently free of vibration.

The drive belt multiplies its torque to spin the compact
disc on a precision spindle/thrust bearing assembly andsupports a 125mm diameter stabilizer clamp weighing
450grams. With inertia comparable to the most massive
analog turntable, the flywheel effect of the TL 0 3.0 discstabilizer achieves perfect rotational stability without theconstant electronic servo corrections required in all otherCD transports. As a further benefit, the disc stabilizer covers the entire top and outer edge of the CD to prevent
light scattering and internal refiections.
Pride, craftsmanship, and music reproduction on compact
disc have reached a new plateau with the CEC TL 0 3.0.
The result: music reproduction on its highest level.

CEC Belt Drive CD Transport TL 0 3.0
with CEC Superlink interconnect system

Specifications

Specifications

Drive System

Double Belt Drive //Spindle and Pick-up

Digital Output• Super Link x 1 (BNC x 4) 2.5Vp-p/75Ω
• AES / EBU (XLR, hot=pin 2) x 1 2.5Vp-p/110Ω
• Coaxial x 1 0.5Vp-p/75Ω
• TOS x 1(optical): -21~-15dBm EIAJ

Playable Discs

Audio CDs & Finalized CD-R/RW

CD Stabilizer

Diameter 125mm, weight 460g
(Brass, nickel plating)inertia moment 6.6 x IO-4N,m.s2

Word Clock Input• BNC x 1: 44.1kHz

Spindle Shaft

5mm in Diameter

Power supply

AC 120 / 230V 50 / 60HZ

Suspension

D.R.T.S. (Double Rubbers and Triple Springs)
with Three Tiptoes legs

Power consumption

12 w

Dimensions

Hexagon shaped aluminum in 20 mm thick andbrass in 10 mm thick: combination of two different metallic materials

Transport: approx. 300(W) x 317(D) x158(H)mm
Power box: approx. 128(W) x 260(D) x 103(H)mm

Main Mechanism Chassis

WeightTransport: approx. 16kg
Power box: approx. 3.2kg

Operation Housing

Aluminum in 20 mm thickColor

Silver05 CEC The Drive | www.cec-international.com

CEC Belt Drive CD Transport TL 0 3.0
Wholeheartedly recommend

CEC opened a new chapter in music reproduction in thespring of 1992 with the world‘s first Belt Drive CD Transport, the already famous TL1. Creative mastery of vibration
control techniques resulted in this landmark product whose uniquely analog musicality has been hailed as nothing
less than a revolution in digital audio.
The TL1 is considered to be the finest instrument for themost musically satisfying digital reproduction by music lovers, high end amplifier and loudspeaker manufacturers,
and the high end audio press around the world. Now with
the CEC TL0 3.0, the breakthroughs of the previous TL1
TL0 and TL0 X have been refined even further than we
imagined possible just a few years ago.
Test reports in international magazines as well as the testimony of our satisfied customers worldwide confirm that

06 CEC The Drive | www.cec-international.com

we have achieved our musical objective: music reproduction on its highest level.
CEC’s flagship model TL0 X will be refined for 2014 as TL0
3.0. - Major points of improvement are as follows:
1. The servo PCB circuit has been redesigned to shorten
the signal pass and strengthen the grounding. This will
minimize the deterioration and the distortion of the digital
signal recorded on the CD.
2. Word-clock input has been newly installed. Having thesame outer clock as the D/A converter, jitter will be remarkably minimized to improve sound reproduction.
3. The height of CD stabilizer (puck) has been decreasedby 5 mm to stabilize the rotation of the disc.

4. CEC’s original Superlink connection has been fitted forthe first time in the TL0 series. When connected to the D/Aconverter equipped with Superlink inputs, the shortest andmost direct digital signal transportation is available without
passing through encoding and decoding procedure.The
left/right-clock data, bit-clock data and digital audio music
data are all transmitted from the CD-transport to the DAC
while the master-clock is generated inside the DAC andsent to the CD-transport.
5. The external appearance has been upgraded for the firsttime since it’s original release in 1993. The visible fixing
screws and housing have been minimized at each edge ofthe housing components.

CEC Belt Drive CD Transport TL 0 3.0
Highly regarded by music lovers

Forget any notion of ‚digital hardness‘: the CEC sound is beguiling, with alyrical, flowing quality that never fails to draw you into the musical event. Adelicious encounter! (hi-fi news | UK audio magazine)
The CEC TL 0 sounded breathtaking and, yes, musical. The nature of its
sound may be taken for a validation of its design criteria in eliminating jitterfrom the datastream. (Linnman, SixMoon.com )Detail, richness of tone and spatial information are just glorious. The concentrated application of know-how, innovative capacity and decades ofexperience have quite obviously paid off. (hi-fi news | UK audio magazine)On more than one occasion I sat down to write a description of theseproducts only to find myself getting lost in musical treasures from my CDcollection. (hi-fi news | UK audio magazine)

07 CEC The Drive | www.cec-international.com

The most overwhelming sonic characteristic of the TL 0 was its ability to lift
a perfectly immense amount of information from the disc and feed it to theprocessor in question. It was eloquently and enormously hyper-detailed to
the limits of my ability to hear. No matter what the material, it seemed as
though everything encoded in the pits was making it out.
(Jonathan Scull, stereophile)

The sound qualitiy is world class. Perhaps the most beautiful CD drive,plays easy into the top reference. (STEREO | audio magazine)
The CEC TL 0 is an excellent and rare example of advanced mechanicalengineering. (Linnman, SixMoon.com )CEC TL 0 shows an outstanding, independent interpretation of digital technology of the 21st century. (STEREO | audio magazine)

CEC Co., Ltd., Japan