HELP ON NEW PLAYER OR DAC

Hello all, I know this has been discussed many times but I would like advice on my old Theta Data II transport and Pro Basic II DAC. I would like to purchase either a new DAC or CD player to bring me closer to what I hear when I'm listening to vinyl playback. I would like spend up to $1500 for a DAC and $2500 for a player. The rest of my gear is Audio Research and VPI/Grado. I just got back into this after a long layoff so any sugesstions would really be of help. Thanks, John