Buying Hi-End CD Player or Transport..

All above mentioned are nice but I would encourage you to borrow a Mark Levinson 39 cd player that has a preamp section and an anologe volume control if you wanted to run directly to your power amp. The sound is so clean and the soundstage is deep and wide like all their products. Great stuff. There are alot of great cd players out there but you can pick up a used 39 for around 3,200 if you can find someone to give you a good deal. Best Regards

Save yourself some cash and get a used EAD transport to feed the processor. They're cheap on the used market these days and work fine.
Take your significant other to Bermuda for a week with the $ you save. But wait til hurricane season is over.

I've heard the Audio Aero with the Joule Marquis OTL amps, preamp, and the Merlin Mellenium speakers at CES and the Stereophile show and it is really good. I'd probably agree with Jtinn. I'd give this one a listen. I've not heard the Audiomeca. Have fun.

I agree with Lev335, the ML 39 CD player is a great choice. And if you want separates, it would be very hard to beat the ML 37 transport used with 360 or 360S DAC. I use this combo, and it is excellent. It can "boogie" on R&R, or sound sublime on classical. Good Hunting. Craig

Since the 39 has been replaced by the 390s and there is a significant improvement, I would not consider the "old" 39. :) The new 390s uses the Anagram DAC made famous by Audiomeca and Audio Aero. The Audio Aero Capitole 24/192 also has a gain control and puts out a hefty 3.5 - 4 v's. It will drive most anything. If all you listen to is digital, I would strongly suggest the possibility of selling your preamp and running the Capitole directly for what could be the best sound. If you want just a DAC, the Audiomeca Enkianthus is fantastic.

I would be careful with Levinson product right now due to the changeover in the 39. I am sure the other units will follow shortly.

The other good news is that very shortly Audio Aero will be releasing their Premier SACD/CD/DVD-V/CD-R/CD-RW/CD-V upsampling player. It should raise some eyebrows.

PS. I have always been a Levinson digital fan, but they seem to be a bit behind the latest technology right now with most of their units.