Upgrade CD player or wait

Go ahead and buy a good single box CD player and don't wait for the "new and better" format. No matter how much better DVD-A or SACD sounds if you don't have the software, it's no good to you.

From a guy with lots of little black boxes to play a mere CD speaking...

Nice post, Pbb. I'm probably the guy who said the ARCAM lacked PRaT. But I never stuck it on a Neuance, so who knows...? Your analogy's great. Maybe a Neuance will allow that trio to boogie better!
But to answer the threadhead's query: it took me a LONG time to throw away my old modded Rotel 855, but musical life with Redbook is now a completely NON-artificial experience with my new Electro EMC-1 MkII. Sure, pricey, but a sea change as important as a great speaker upgrade.
I too thought the Planet a bit dark. But then again that can be a good thing in a leanish system (metal tweeter, nearfield listening, upper crossover junk, untreated sidewalls, etc.).
I simply couldn't find a $1k player a year ago that cut it.
Used EMC-1 can be had around $2k. You can get the MkII DAC later for $600 (I got a couple straight from the EC for folks.) I figured it'd be a LONG time before someone made a combi-transport that REALLY sounded great on Redbook, so I went this route.
Good luck on your journey.

I recently upgraded my CD player from an NAD 513 carousel to a Rega Planet 2000. The NAD had a warm sound, and I liked it OK, but I have noticed a significant improvement in the low level detail, more extended bass, instruments and voices sound more real, it is just an overall improvement. It also has good build quality and operation is simple. My CD's are all "redbook", and I have no intention of going to SACD or DVD audio at this time, and I unfortunately had to make price a consideration, so the decision was based strictly on the best quality I could get for under $1K.

Bill

Jack, I am in the same state of decision you are in now. I was not happy about the DVDA/SACD battle so I bought a cheap CD/DVD player, the Pioneer DVD525 and sold by beloved Theta Data Basic and Muse Model two DAC. What a drop in sound quality. The Pioneer is just an average CD player and is a decent DVD player. Your CD player is probably nearly as good. I am considering the Sony XA7ES the SCD777ES or the new XA777ES. The one problem with older CD players is that the transport mechanisms are no longer in production. That is why I hesitate to buy an older cd player with a 16/44 transport mechanism, if it fails, it dies. DVD and the Sony transports are what are in production (also CD rom mechanisms)now. The excellent Phillips CDM9 Pro mechanism was used in many high end transports, but is no longer in production and has not been made in probably 4-5 years or longer. What would I do? This is a tough question. Many of the DVD players do not sound as good as cd players made 4-5 years ago. If you buy a cd player, check the availability of transports and parts. The only DVD player I would consider is the Sony DVP 9000ES. Listen and research...Jeff

search the a-gon threads for di/o, or d/io, or dio. it will provide info about a cheap dac than can be modded, & the price w/mods is still less than $350. you can spend thousands, & still not do any better... well, i admit that there are a few folks who prefer their multi-kilobuck rigs to the art di/o, but many are selling their spendy stuff...

doug s.