Budget system recommendations

There is a Musical Fidelity X-A1 integrated amp up for sale at $325 that is very hard to beat for the price (I own one) and recently had a Pass owner over who was very impressed with its sound (very similar to the Aleph 3 when the volume is kept below 10:00 on the dial). It should run most reasonably efficient speakers under normal circumstances. You would probably hang on to this amp (even when upgrade fever strikes). I replaced mine with a tube amp, but still use it in another system. It does not have a phono stage though and can just be used (as is) with CD and tape sources.

Maxcast: This will not get you good sound right away, but if you have "any" kind of CD player (even a Walkman) that you can use in the meantime, you might want to hold out for one of the upcoming low cost CD/SACD/DVD players that may be on the market in the next 3-6 months. Even if you do not get into multi channel sound you should still be able to take advantage of the DVD feature (if you have a compatible TV), plus have the option of playing SACD's. Will the new models sound any good? I don't know, but you will kick yourself if they do sound good and end up costing the same as the CD players that you are looking at now. You can still build the rest of the system in the meantime and if the new combo players suck, then pick up one of the suggestions above or something else that you like. I am just suggesting this because you seem to be on such a tight budget. I also am holding off on upgrading my player/transport to see what becomes available, as I am interested in adding SACD to my system (DVD does not interest me). I figure that once the low cost players hit the market the software will become readily available (unless the companies are intending on commiting marketing suicide, which I doubt that they are).