⌈ COMPACT DISC TRANSPORT is a device used toread an audio signal from a Compact Disc and send it
to an external digital-to-analogue converter. The CDtransport includes two main elements: a drive(mechanical part) and transmitter (electronics). Many
engineers believe that with a proper oscillator a CDtransport should not affect the sound. I do not need to
say that they are wrong, so wrong! ⌋he coming end of a given technology is determined byreplacing it with a newer one, sometimes by its naturaldemise. Both cases are a result of a change in time. We
observe it every day, because few people today makehorseshoes, there are few coopers and tailors are not as
popular as they once were. In electronics, this regularity isprobably even easier to observe, because it has constantly been
undergoing changes in the most recent times.

| Comparison #1
The comparison of the Reimyotransport with the transport being
part of the Ayon Audio CD-35 HE
Edition connected to the former's
brand's DAC can result in a smallheart attack. Or at least in serious palpitations. Reimyo is a much,
much better system to read data from CDs. Not "a bit" better,
not "to some extent", and certainly not "maybe" – the CDT-777
Toku outclassed the reading system in Ayon, pure and simple.
This is, of course, not a fair comparison, because the realadvantage of the Austrian device is born in its digital section and it
results in an outstanding performance, however, it confirmed
something that I suspected for some time, namely that thetransport used in the Ayon is not the best. However, thiscomparison is still valuable because I compared the transport ofmy player with other brands' transports in the same way before. So
I know its strengths and weaknesses, and only in one case theeffect (the difference) was similar, when I compared it with the
CEC TL0 3.0.
The thing that I immediately notice was a subjective difference involume level. The Reimyo seems to play louder. This is asubjective feeling, because the level of digital signal is the samefor all CD transports, and yet - Reimyo played "louder". I think
this is a result of flattening the sound by Ayon's transport, as wellas its dulling. These are probably two elements that objectively
change the most.

However, there is such a thing as a “cultural buffer” whichcauses us, even though we are tempted by new ones, to be
reluctant to abandon old solutions, especially if they work.
Because such “buffer” exists we can still enjoy both vinyl records,
Compact Discs and music files.
| It's not dead yet!
Compact Disc technology is a relatively primitive - from today's
point of view - method of transferring musical material; it's abouttransferring it from the recording studio to our homes. Today there
are much more technologically advanced and more elegant
methods, above all streaming, where we get an almost perfectcopy of files that came from mastering studio.
Why, then, do we deal with this outdated technology? The answer
is as simple as it is worrying: because still through it we can get
the top sound, usually better than through streaming. Why, then,do we even still deal with this outdated technology? The answer is
as simple as it is worrying: because using it allows you to get the
top sound, usually of higher quality than the one achieved withstreaming.
The coming end of the Compact Disc has been anticipated formany years. I remember that some ten years ago a representativeof Cambridge Audio, so a company that kept an eye on the pulse

All the discs I used during my listening sessions, starting with thebeautiful, new album of the Voo Voo group Za niebawem, the
CD-R master version of the Polish Jazz Quartet and master CD-R
with Getz / Gilberto, to the master CD-R of the unpublished
MAP's Grooveoberek album, the Adam Czerwiński's group thatplays with Krzesimir Dębski - they all sounded more real,stronger, dynamic, in a much more open way with Reimyo.
This is probably the most important advantage of this device opening the sound, while maintaining the character of therecording itself. Poor transports often dull the sound, and often as in the case of Ayon - falsely warm it up (I am still talking about
the transport, not about a complete player). They dull the treble,

of the mass market, told me that they were preparing to extinguish
this category of devices, although they would produce them until
as long as there would be a demand on the market. Today,
Cambridge Audio still offers CD players, CD transport andprepares for the premiere of the top Edge series CD player. Whichmean – there is still demand for such products.
Symptomatic for this way of thinking about the CD's end was thepremiere of the Hegel CD player in 2017, which was named
Mohican. Its name speaks for itself - it was supposed to be the last
player of its kind in the company's history, signaling the dusk of acertain era.
How much the Norwegians rushed the end of CD is clearly
demonstrated by the fact that Cambridge Audio is active in thisfield, and even more strongly by the information we received justa few days ago, namely that Pro-Ject prepared a brand new CDtransport whose mechanics were build as a result of cooperation ofthis brand's engineers with their counterparts in the Austriancompany Stream Unlimited. Something tells me that the rumors
about the death of the Compact Disc format were premature:)
Again!
| CDT-777 TOKUAt the time of writing this test, there is virtually no information
about the CDT-777 Toki transport from Reimyo. Search engines
offer maybe two records related to it, and they are rather useless.
Also, Mr. Kazuo Kiuchi, the owner of the company, doesn't
want to talk about, suggesting that I should listen to it myself.
So we have to collect the little information that is available.
Reimyo, in Japanese 'miracle', is a brand belonging to the Combak
Corporation, which offers electronic devices: CD transport, D / A
converter, line preamplifier, power amplifier and power
conditioner; the preamplifier and power amplifier are tube devices.
In 2016, Mr. Kazuo Kiuchi, after two years of work, presented a
new version of the DAP-999EX Limited DAC additionallydesignated as TOKU (current price: PLN 63.990,00). This device
was inspired by texts from "High Fidelity", as well as the RED
Fingerprint award, which is why this version is also called
DAP-999EX Limited Toku High Fidelity Edition.
The changes compared to the previous version were significant
and concerned almost exclusively the digital signal conversion. In
TOKU, the signal is converted synchronously, in the K2 JCV8009
chip, to the 24/176.4 form; conversion of 16-bit words to 24-bits in
the K2 system is performed by interpolation, not by adding"empty" zeros.
The Toku plate on the front of the CDT-777 Toku transportmeans that it too has been modernized. The manual does specify
any particular changes and it differs from the earlier versions onlywith a red stamp. This is a Top-loader Compact Disc transport.
The disc is placed directly on the motor axis and a CD stabilizer isplaced on top. Closing the transport - manually - initiates reading
the TOC, ie the table of contents.
The elements that we know about are: a Philips CD-2M transportwith an in-house-made, large-sized disc stabilizer. This one,however, has the usual fixing, i.e. a plastic element with a
trapezoidal shape. The device features an excellent chassis madeof aluminum plates and stands not on straight feet, but on
aluminum flat bars, to which the cones were screwed in; the wholeis placed Harmonix pads, products of another of Mr. Kiuchi's
brands.
Mr. Kazuo Kiuchi's Digital Audio Processor Toku did just one
thing: it converted the digital signal from the Compact Disc to

making the sound warmer and more "analog". In fact, the sound isof lesser quality, not "analogue". The true, not-falsified "analogue"
sound, or completeness of sound, was presented by the CDT-777
Toku.
I could hear it perfectly when listening to the Grooveoberek
album. It includes a jazz, ethereal version of Godzinki, old Polishliturgical songs. It is extremely moving and incredibly wellrecorded album - it's just a killer and a future hit on all audio show
for the next several years. Interestingly, it was recorded "by theway" as a supplement to the album.
But to the point - I listened to it from the analog master tape, the"varnish" from which the matrixes were made and from the test
pressing, and finally from the CD. And? And the CD version
tonally and with its ambiance was closest to the master tape! The
vinyl versions were excellent, but they modified sound in adifferent direction. I heard very similar differences whencomparing the transports of Ayon and Reimyo. The latter was
closer to what I heard from the analog master tape.
| Comparison #2
Listening in a system where the Ayon Audio SACD player worked
as an integrated player, with the Reimyo CD transport connected
to its digital input, brought less emotion. This is because theperformance of both systems was at a similar level, differing onlyin the way of music presentation.
Reimyo as the source sounded a bit harder, with a more
pronounced bass. Sound was less saturated in the treble, withslightly smaller elements in the midrange. But it was alsoenergetic, lively. Ayon sounded softer, more pastel.
Interestingly, also in such a comparison the same discs played byReimyo seemed a little louder. This time it was caused not by abetter definition of information by this transport, and by providing
information closer to a listener. Ayon shows a deeper scene, also
the foreground is a bit more distant with it.
It seems that the advantages of running a digital signal through the
I2S link inside the player - and so the mechanisms are connectedwith D/A converters in integrated players, offered someadvantages that allowed Ayon to counterbalance advantages of amuch better in mechanical terms, Reimyo transport.
But, as I say, these were not differences that would eliminate oneor the other drive. Until it came to playing SACDs. With Ayon
they sounded in a deeper, stronger, more saturated way - they were
simply more sophisticated. The same CDs, but played by Reimyo
from CD layers, were a bit simpler and not so "analog".
| Comparison #3
The last comparison I made was listening to the full Reimyo Toku
system and then to my reference player. With CDs both systems
sounded fantastic. The Japanese player presents everything
more tightly, more clearly and closer. The bass is better
extended, and it is tuneful and very well defined. In turn, Ayon
fills the midrange better and offers a softer, more "spatial" treble.
The music reproduced by the Reimyo system sounds somewhat
more similar to a vinyl record, while Ayon is closer to an analogue
tape. Both interpretations are equivalent. The more so that Mr.
Kiuchi's player presents musical events with spontaneity andtangibility, which I know from XRCDs, and I like this way ofpresenting music, it's just the same "family" of emotions. The bass
is nicely controlled and goes down low, which gives thepresentation a feeling of a live event - the instruments have proper
dimensions and are not a small dot in the "image".

analog one, accepting only the 16-bit signal. The CDT-777 Tokutransport is equally minimalistic: it only reads CDs (CDs, CDRs and CD-RWs) and features one digital output: RCAS/PDIF. There is no upsampler, no link to clock synchronization
between transport and D / A converter, no external clock input.
This is a “pure” CD transport.
| HOW WE LISTENED TO IT
It just so happens that I listened to the earlier version of thistransport with the DAP-999EX TOKU High Fidelity Edition
DAC. For comparison, I had at my disposal - this was in 2016 my CD player, also with the Philips CD Pro-2M mechanism, theAncient Audio Lektor AIR V-edition. Since then, a lot haschanged in my system, because the source of the signal today is
the Ayon Audio CD-35 HF Edition player, powered by the Siltech
Triple Crown Power cable, I also have new speaker cables - also
Siltech Triple Crown model.
Reimyo's Transport and D/A converter were placed on the shelf of
the Finite Elemente Pagode Edition rack. In the device's manual,
Mr. Kiuchi points out that the best results are to be achieved using
his cables including power ones. So for the transport I used the 聖SUMMARY
Ultimately the comparisons proved, that both systems offered asimilar level of performance. They sounded a bit different, butboth delivered an equally high level. Which leads straight to theconclusion: the new Reimyo transport is one of the best CD
transports on the market, best of the best. The Philips
mechanics have their own "sound", it has not changed, but it is
now more versatile and going in the direction of what SACDs
have to offer. So if your primary source of music are CDs it will bedifficult to find a better source than the Reimyo system.
I have not listened to all the top CD and SACD players in theworld, but on the other hand I have heard most of them. The
Reimyo CDT-777 Toku CD transport combined with the
DAP-999EX TOKU High Fidelity Edition DAC could be mysystem. I value is as much as the full set of dCS Vivaldi, as theSpectral HDCD player, as aforementioned CEC system, and last
but not least, as my Ayon Audio player. The GOLD Fingerprint
award for the Reimyo's transport, as well as the company's fullToku system, is therefore indisputable..

Hijiri SMT ‘Takumi’ Maestro, anf for the DAC the 聖 Hijiri
SM2R ‘Sound Matter’. I also used a new digital cable 聖 Hijiri
HDG-R1-Harmonix HS-102 to connect transports with DAC.
The Reimyo system was placed in the same place where I listened
earlier to its version with older transport, and also the CEC system- TL0 3.0 transport with DA0 3.0 DAC and the Métronome
Technologie Dream Play CD: Kalista. The test was an A / B
comparison with A and B known. The musical samples were 2
minutes long. I also listened to full albums using both, loudspeakerand headphone systems.
REIMYO in "High Fidelity”

Recordings used for the test (a selec- tion)
Polish Jazz Quartet, Polish Jazz Quartet, Polskie Nagrania„Muza”/Warner Music Poland, „Polish Jazz | vol. 3”, Master
CD-R (1965/2016);
Aquavoice, Silence, Zoharum ZOHAR 168-2, Master CD-R
(2018);
Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto, Verve/Lasting
Impression Music LIM K2HD 036, K2HD Mastering, „24Gold Direct-from-Master Edition UDM”, Master CD-R
(1964/2009)
Voo Voo, Za niebawem,
Wydawnictwo
Agora5903111492953, CD (2019)
MAP feat. Krzesimir Dębski, Groovoberek, AC Records
ARC 012, Master CD-R (2019)

Reimyo CDT-777 TOKU is a Compact Discs transport; CDT =Compact Disc Transport. Its only task is to read information froma CD and send it to an external digital-to-analogue converter. This
device combines the world of mechanics and digital electronics, tosome extent repeating what a turntable with a cartridge does.
Chassis | Mechanics require a solid, well thought out structure.
That is why the CT-777 chassis is very heavy. It is build fromaluminum, thick plates combined with steel elements. The top
cover is bolted with a dozen or so screws and additionallyreinforced by two "bars", which also “hide” the screws. The wholestands on four aluminum cones screwed into thick plates widening
the outline of the device, thus lowering its center of gravity andimproving stability - a similar solution can be found inloudspeakers.
Front and rear | The front features a small, poorly visible display,which is part of the Philips CD-Pro 2M transport kit. I think it's
worth to think a nice large LED display, for example in red color,
would be a nice upgrade. A disc is placed in a manually-operated
chamber and an aluminum stabilization disc is placed over it. The
signal is sent out through a high-class RCA socket where the masscontacts first, which prevents damage to the converter. There isalso an IEC power socket on the rear panel.

Inside | The inside has been divided into several chambers usingthick aluminum plates. On the left side there is a very large power
supply, and on the right a drive servo. In the power supply there
are as many as three, large R-core transformers, favored by many
Japanese manufacturers, in this case outsourced from Kitamura
Kiden. One of them sits right next to the power supply, and two
more, which did not fit there, were placed behind the drive. There
are a lot of stabilized lines, and at the IEC socket there is a double
Pi filter and an element by the Enacom, one of the Combak
Corporation brands - it is a noise filter.

The listening sessions were divided into two, or rather three
sections. During the first of them |#1| I compared Reimyo withtransport section of my Ayon Audio Player – both were connectedto Toku DAC using RCA-RCA digital cable. I wanted to check
how the Reimyo transport compares to a regular, not specialized
SACD/CD transport.

The drive itself has already been discussed. Here you can see that
it is screwed "rigidly" to a solid metal element, and this one to theside aluminum plates. The servo on a circuit board, as well as the
S/PDIF transmitter, were placed on the PCBs on the other side ofthe drive.
Remote | The remote control could be used in the popularelectronics museum as a representative of the late 1980s or early
1990s. It is not very ergonomic and quite ugly. Reimyo, however,is extremely conservative in this respect and I would not expectthat it will ever change.

Technical specifications (according to manufacturer)
Digital output: IEC958/EUB Standard
Signal's amplitude: 0,5 Vp-p (+/-0,25 V 0-p)
Output Impedance: 75 ΩPower consumption: 15 W
Dimensions (W x H x D):
chassis: 430 x 325 x 88 mm
with feet: 466 x 361 x 131mm
Weight: 14 kg

During the second part |#2| I connected the CDT-777 Toku using
the same digital cable to a digital input of the Ayon player. Any
signal in Ayon is converted firstly to DSD256 and only then to ananalogue form. In this part I also compared SACD discs playedusing Ayon to CD layers of the same discs played by Reimyo. I
wanted to assess the differences between them.

Reference system 2018

1) Loudspeakers: HARBETH M40.1 |REVIEW|
2) Line preamplifier: AYON AUDIO Spheris III Linestage |REVIEW|
3) Super Audio CD Player: AYON AUDIO CD-35 HF Edition No. 01/50 |REVIEW|
4) Stands (loudspeakers): ACOUSTIC REVIVE (custom) |ABOUT|
5) Power amplifier: SOULUTION 710
6) Loudspeaker filter: SPEC REAL-SOUND PROCESSOR RSP-AZ9EX (prototype) |REVIEW|
7) Hi-Fi rack: FINITE ELEMENTE Pagode Edition |ABOUT|

CablesAnalog interconnect SACD Player - Line preamplifier: SILTECH Triple Crown (1 m) |ABOUT|
Analog interconnect Line preamplifier - Power amplifier: ACOUSTIC REVIVE RCA-1.0 Absolute-FM (1m) |REVIEW|
Speaker cable: SILTECH Triple Crown (2.5 m) |ABOUT|

AC Power
Power cable | Mains Power Distribution Block - SACD Player: SILTECH Triple Crown
Power (2 m) |ARTICLE|Power cable | Mains Power Distribution Block - Line preamplifier - ACOUSTIC REVIVE
Power Reference Triple-C (2 m) |REVIEW|
Power cable | Mains Power Distribution Block - Power amplifier - ACROLINK Mexcel 7N-PC9500|ARTICLE|
Power cable | Power Receptacle - Mains Power Distribution Block: ACROLINK Mexcel 7N-PC9500 (2 m)|ARTICLE|
Power Receptacle: Acoustic Revive RTP-4eu ULTIMATE |REVIEW|
Anti-vibration platform under Acoustic Revive RTP-4eu ULTIMATE: Asura QUALITY RECOVERYSYSTEM Level 1 |REVIEW|
Power Supply Conditioner: Acoustic Revive RPC-1 |REVIEW|
Power Supply Conditioner: Acoustic Revive RAS-14 Triple-C |REVIEW|
Passive filter EMI/RFI: VERICTUM Block |REVIEW|

Anti-vibration
Speaker stands: ACOUSTIC REVIVE (custom)
Hi-Fi rack: FINITE ELEMENTE Pagode Edition |ABOUT|
Anti-vibration platforms: ACOUSTIC REVIVE RAF-48H |ARTICLE|
Isolators:
PRO AUDIO BONO Ceramic 7SN |REVIEW|FRANC AUDIO ACCESSORIES Ceramic Classic
HARMONIX TU-666M "BeauTone" MILLION MAESTRO 20th Anniversary Edition |REVIEW|

Analogue
Phono preamplifier:
GRANDINOTE Celio Mk IV |REVIEW|
RCM AUDIO Sensor Prelude IC |REVIEW|
Phono cartridges:
DENON DL-103 | DENON DL-103 SA |REVIEW| and |REVIEW|MIYAJIMA LABORATORY Madake |REVIEW|MIYAJIMA LABORATORY Zero |REVIEW|MIYAJIMA LABORATORY Kansui |REVIEW|
Tonearm (12"): Reed 3P |REVIEW|
Clamp: PATHE WINGS Titanium PW-Ti 770 | Limited Edition
Record mats:
HARMONIX TU-800EX
PATHE WINGS

Headphones
Headphone amplifier: AYON AUDIO HA-3 |REVIEW|
Headphones:
HiFiMAN HE-1000 v2 |REVIEW|
Audeze LCD-3 |REVIEW|
Sennheiser HD800
AKG K701 |REVIEW|
Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro (old version) |REVIEW|
Headphone Cables: Forza AudioWorks NOIR HYBRID HPC