Gunbunny, even if you had 3k to spend on digital, I would reccomend a Phillips 963sa cd/sacd/dvd player fully modified over any 2-3k cd only player bar none.
I know of one modder www.asi-audio.com that will do mods to the 963sa as you can afford it as opposed to all at once in one package.
In the meantime,the 963sa is not half bad stock.
After spending 14k lately on upgrades which did not include the 963sa yet, but rather a 1500.00 9000 es with Jensen,Blackgate caps ,bybees,transformer mods ect, my 11 year old who could care less about audio quality, wanted to know why I had the music playing 24/7[break in]and he said that the speakers that I had made a couple years previous were the most obvious change for the better in sound and that was the only change were he heard a significant change for the better.
Of course the amp/preamp/source and cable changes were all positive upgrades to any audiophool,but to a kid who could care less about audio quality and has better hearing then most of us, it is obvious that speakers are the most important component not counting the room.
Modified dvd/cd/sacd players are the most bang for the buck digital source there is and there are other models that shine when modded besides the 963sa....don't fall for the expensive source is best hype.
I know of one modder www.asi-audio.com that will do mods to the 963sa as you can afford it as opposed to all at once in one package.
In the meantime,the 963sa is not half bad stock.
After spending 14k lately on upgrades which did not include the 963sa yet, but rather a 1500.00 9000 es with Jensen,Blackgate caps ,bybees,transformer mods ect, my 11 year old who could care less about audio quality, wanted to know why I had the music playing 24/7[break in]and he said that the speakers that I had made a couple years previous were the most obvious change for the better in sound and that was the only change were he heard a significant change for the better.
Of course the amp/preamp/source and cable changes were all positive upgrades to any audiophool,but to a kid who could care less about audio quality and has better hearing then most of us, it is obvious that speakers are the most important component not counting the room.
Modified dvd/cd/sacd players are the most bang for the buck digital source there is and there are other models that shine when modded besides the 963sa....don't fall for the expensive source is best hype.