Using Sony 300 disk CD changer as transport

Andy,

I used to run MSB Link DAC II w/ a 70$ dvd player and thought it sounded great, better in some ways than my Cambridge Audio D500SE cd player, which is a well-regarded budget player. I moved on and sold the MSB to a friend who has a much more modest system than mine and who also reported huge improvements when the MSB was inserted into his system. These dacs can be had used for around 150$. They automatically turn themselves on and off when they detect a signal, so your sis wouldn't ever have to fuss with it, and if she doesn't like it or notice an obvious improvement, you could always resell it for what you paid. Worth a try.

How much would a DIP help? There are a few Monarchy on sale but what type of improvement would one expect?

I would suspect your sister would enjoy the convenience of a 300 disc changer, therefore if you have to use optical, go with a glass optical , and tweak away .

Is your sister concerned about the sound quality of the changer, because if she's not, then why burden her with any of your audiophile aesthetics? For the vast majority of users a mega-changer system is far preferable than a single disc player.

Getting a DAC for a 300 disk changer is a great way to up the performance of the system. The DACs in the changers are not stellar performers but the transports are reasonable. You might also consider a de-jitter unit before the DAC but do that after you have tried the basic DAC/changer setup to see how it performs.

for me, optical is more of an issue than the cd bank as a transport. I would argue (with coax) that she would see a huge gain with a different DAC (since the one in the player is weak at best) so it would be definitely worth it. Someone else will have to comment on the optical part though - that might be a deal breaker...