Hey Tom,
I tried pairing several transports with my Bel Canto Dac, and found that a DVD player, while good, was not nearly as good in my system as a dedicated redbook transport. I settled on a used Proceed CDD, which is a little out of the price range you mention, but also tried and liked the Theta Pearl quite a bit, which is in your range if you can find a lightly used model. Also, the Pioneer 525 I used sounded distinctly better through coax (Acoustic Zen Photon, with which I am very happy) than through any of several Toslink cables in 1 or 2 meters. Hope this helps.
C.
I tried pairing several transports with my Bel Canto Dac, and found that a DVD player, while good, was not nearly as good in my system as a dedicated redbook transport. I settled on a used Proceed CDD, which is a little out of the price range you mention, but also tried and liked the Theta Pearl quite a bit, which is in your range if you can find a lightly used model. Also, the Pioneer 525 I used sounded distinctly better through coax (Acoustic Zen Photon, with which I am very happy) than through any of several Toslink cables in 1 or 2 meters. Hope this helps.
C.