You might consider an Odyssey Tempest preamp at $995 from odysseyaudio.com. I've not heard it but it's supposed to be well worth the $. Then you could pick up a Sony DVP s9000es new for about $900. The s9000es plays dvd, sacd, and cd formats but is only 2-channel. It's a very nice all around unit sonically and visually and for $250 you could have it mod'ed by Stan Warren (co-founder of PS Audio) to squeeze perhaps a 25% to 40% sonic improvement.
TAS had a recent review on the e9000es and they really liked the unit.
I've owned the s9000es for over a year now and only recently upgraded to the Sony SCD-1 SACD/cd player. But I have no intention of selling the s9000es either.
And after this upgrade you'll still have some change left over.
There is always a certain synergy that one looks and/or hopes for when matching components but ultimately you never if the marriage is a good one until after you say 'I do'.
That's why used can be a good way to go.
TAS had a recent review on the e9000es and they really liked the unit.
I've owned the s9000es for over a year now and only recently upgraded to the Sony SCD-1 SACD/cd player. But I have no intention of selling the s9000es either.
And after this upgrade you'll still have some change left over.
There is always a certain synergy that one looks and/or hopes for when matching components but ultimately you never if the marriage is a good one until after you say 'I do'.
That's why used can be a good way to go.