I am on my second PS Audio Lambda CD transport. I bought my first when it first came out but it developed a mechanical problem. I got lucky and recently bought a used one in perfect condition for $400. Best money I ever spent on audio equipment. I also have a PerfectWave Memory Player. They feed my AURALiC VEGA D/A processor .I love the sound of both but any difference between the two is very small. The Lambda is simply a great transport and I think holds its own with far costlier and technically more sophisticated transports.
One area in which it bests the PerfectWave Memory Player is in error correction. It plays through all the drop-outs on the Pierre Verany Digital Test CD. There are 24 tracks in three groups with tracks of increasing difficulty within each group. The first group is individual drop outs and the other two contain drop outs close together. The Lambda passed them all, even the last track in each group which is the most challenging. The largest drop out is 4.00mm visible to the naked eye.
It was/is an excellent transport. I think it has something like 33 separate power regulators. The problem with the original Lambda was the plastic gears that open and close the drawer. Otherwise it is unreal how long they last. When mine quit opening the drawer I used my Oppo 83se as a transport, but it was not as good as the Lambda. I went back to the Lambda opening the drawer manually. I eventually removed the front plate, held on with adhesive, and put a knob on the front of the inner drawer. I did check to see if I could get the drawer repaired, but parts were no longer available. There is a work around somewhere on line, I just felt it was a bit complicated.
I finally traded it in for a PWT, which I do believe sounds a little better, but compared to the Lambda it is mechanically noisy and I find it not showing total time of the disc odd. And neither allows programming of tracks. Even a hundred dollar Sony did that.
Even with the minor things I mentioned, the only transport I would rather own is the newer DMP, but not owning a PSA DAC I would not be able to get all the benefits, and I can’t afford it anyway. And had I been subscribed to Tidal, I am not sure I would have spent the money on the refurbished PWT. Although I do love the sound of the PWT, it just isn’t getting as much use as it used to. I don’t think you can go wrong owning either one. I have owned five different DACs, but only three dedicated transports, and two of them are from PSA. The first was a CAL Delta, a good transport, but finicky with a few discs, so when a Lambda became available, my dealer let me take it home. I couldn’t believe the difference, most obvious in the bass. I have had to listen to some DACs for hours to determine the differences, but the improvement with the Lambda I heard immediately.