Tube DAC or new CD player?

I have a Sigma 1 for sale $260.

all can be very simple:
you can get musical fidelity x- tube interface between the cd-player and preamp which will take care of brightness and edginess for a-bit above $100 for used.

I use a Kora Hermes DAC with a Theta Pearl transport and love the combo. The Hermes replaced a Bel Canto DAC 1.1 which wasn't quite working in my bright room. It uses two 6922 tubes, and with a little tube rolling you can get the sound just the way you want it. I believe there are a couple up for sale on Audiogon.

I have owned a Cal Sigma.
I currently have 2 Micromega Dacs (2 diff systems).
The Micromega's are smoother and have more "body".
The Cal Sigma had a tiny bit more "air" and a slightly larger soundstage but was not the smoothest dac I have owned. I think the tube does very little.
A tube preamp does more.
The Bel Canto I owned is a little better (more detail, a little more refinement) than the Sigma but not as smooth as the Micromega.
If you want smoothness, try a Micromega. If want this level of smoothness with more detail, try Theta Gen Va but you are going way over your budget.
I have seen Micromegas selling for $300 or less.

Hi

Once you go to separates you will never go back. A stand alone transport is better, But adding a good DAC like the perpetual tech to your unit will also give you 96Khz upsampling.

mike

quick response,

I use a roksan caspian cdp very nice but quite too smooth for my taste and wanted more liveliness out of the music minus any edginess/brightness which the roksan does not have anyway.

The result is quite wonderful and that is with just a DAC sigma I.
Results will also depend on your cdp transport quality but my experience is more than I could have expected from a older dac for $200 invested.

Try first with the cheap sigma see how much of a difference it makes in your system if it does not work then maybe you would need to consider upgrading your cdp instead as my set up does work superbly.

good luck!