Save your money! Any competently-designed player/transport (including DVD) will work just as well as a high-priced transport. Digital is not like analog where more costly turntables sound better. Bits are bits! The old analog ideas do not apply to digital! I use a secondhand JVC DVD player into a DAC with excellent results.
CD transports
I recently started running my CD player ( Luxman D380) through my external DAC and have found a significant sonic improvement. I wonder if I would achieve further improvement in sound quality if I traded in the Luxman and bought a dedicated CD transport ( price range 3-4 K ).
Has anyone gone down that rabbit hole?