New CD Player for Headphones


O.K. I have been convinced that my old broken Theta transport and DAC can be easily bested by by a decent walkman. I really hate to start another "what should I buy now" thread but what choice do I have. None of the other threads seem to speak to my specific need and if I was smart enough to do it on my own I wouldn't be here. A short list of players that might meet the following criteria would be appreciated.

To sum it up:

For use with tube headphone amp
Can cost $1000-$2000 (I'm not going to sit a five grand setup on my desk)
Dynamic, detailed bass
Very good to excellent mids and highs
Tubes are o.k.

Thank you.
dmaddox
I've used the following with several Singlepower tubed headphone amps. Cary 306/200, and Modwright tubed Sony 999es. Both were very nice, the Sony offers great redbook and sacd but the Cary redbook is also very good. Phones were Senn. HD600,650. Beyer DT880, AKG 501, and others. Both these players used are in your price range. Also The Exemplar 2900 modified units are really good.
Do you need a small-format player? I have a JAS Audio Musik 1.2 tube player that I like very well, but it is 17 inches wide. That may be too wide for your desk.

Retail on this player is about $1200, which puts it at the same level as a Shanling CD-T80. The Shanling is a leader in its price class but I'm told the JAS Audio has a smidge more detail. In the bedroom, it does quite well for me and my Sennheiser 580s.

If you wanted to look higher the Shanling line would be a good one to investigate.

Any player's bass will be improved by decent antivibration feet and a good power cord. An isolation transformer will help too, and do good things for air and soundstage.