In the light of these mechanical observations, it’s interesting to note that the obvious musical superiority of Glass CD, as well as the performance benefits of other enhanced disc materials are about more than simple optical superiority. Glass discs in particular, are heavier, stiffer, flatter and more concentric. They have a completely different (possibly less damaging) resonant frequency spectrum. Combined with the superior optical quality, the mechanical benefits go a long way towards demonstrating that the original 44.1kHz sampling rate was perfectly sufficient. If higher resolution recordings are going to deliver better results, you’d better be sure that the benefits in terms of data points outweigh the issues that all that extra data generate in the decoding process.
It’s also worth noting that, while the Reference Transport is undeniably expensive, it looks almost affordable compared to quite a number of turntables out there and is a mere bump in the wider disc-playing landscape. Add the Reference PSU and DC cables to the package and that price rises significantly – but then the best tonearms and cartridges don’t come cheap these days.
