These days, a good single box player can pretty handily beat up on a lower- to mid-end transport/DAC. A Rega Apollo will be a significant upgrade at a very reasonable price, especially if you can find a used or demo unit for $600 or so.
On the other hand, Cambridge Audio has a new low-priced DAC that's getting great reviews:
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=320&Title=DacMagic
I'm not sure if it's available in the US, but it seems to be getting good word of mouth in Europe and probably sells in the $300 range. Add a better transport -- say, a now-obsolete Denon 2800 DVD layer -- for maybe $100 (it was over $1,000 new thanks to its tank-like build quality) and you're back in business for well under $500.
Of course, don't count out Cambridge's own single box players, which are very good, and be sure to also listen to the Rotel RCD-1072 and, before you spend big bucks, the Marantz CD5003 (about $350!).
On the other hand, Cambridge Audio has a new low-priced DAC that's getting great reviews:
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=320&Title=DacMagic
I'm not sure if it's available in the US, but it seems to be getting good word of mouth in Europe and probably sells in the $300 range. Add a better transport -- say, a now-obsolete Denon 2800 DVD layer -- for maybe $100 (it was over $1,000 new thanks to its tank-like build quality) and you're back in business for well under $500.
Of course, don't count out Cambridge's own single box players, which are very good, and be sure to also listen to the Rotel RCD-1072 and, before you spend big bucks, the Marantz CD5003 (about $350!).