Great everyone. Thanks for your help. I guess this was not a silver bullet. I am looking for one so if you have one let me know. In the meantime, I will continue my chase for perfect reproduction looking for used Theta and EAD gear. I certainly believe myself, as someone above said - the Transport is much more important than the DAC. I just sold a Rega CD player that I tried with the Bel Canto. Clearly was some improvement, but a $ 800 player with a $ 1500 transport was the wrong balance. Should have been a $ 1500 transport with an $ 800 DAC. Thanks everyone.
Use a gDVD/CD player as transport with a good DAC?
Someone that I really respect told me that the cheapest way to get a high-end audio player is to buy a DVD/CD player - good one - say Panasonic/Technics for $ 500. This way you get the latest possible in transport technology. Use the digital out connection on the DVD/CD plyer and feed it into a DAC such as Bel Canto, Theta, Electrocompaniet etc. I am very intrigued. Any thoughts?? Has anyone tried this. Which components did you try and how is it working?? Thanks in advance.