Will a new Dac improve the sound?

op

if you want a serious, semi-informed answer from the rest of us here, you need to say alot more...

posed as it is, it is like asking, in general, will my food taste better if i add salt?

impossible to answer...

gary

1.  what speakers are you using?

2.  when you think about improvements in sound as played by your system, what are the first few elements that come to mind?   (i wish i had deeper, more well defined bass... or a lot of the time many cd's sound harsh and gritty... i feel like all the voices and instruments are on top of each other, in one big mish-mash... and so on...)

iirc gary your cary cd-1 player is solid state output stage with ad pcm1792 chipset, very common in cdp’s in that time frame, it was known to be a little brash and thin sounding feeding a typical ss output stage, not surprised with your setup with electrostats the digital sizzle will play through

if you want to stick to your cdp for now, just use its digital out, i would suggest (in order of preference) an mhdt r2r tube buffered dac (orchid havana or atlantis), lesser choices being a musical paradise tube unit, or a border patrol dac - all in your stated price range... with these the sound will have more body and richness, less sibilance/harshness, sound more analog if you will

these dacs come up used but re-sell quickly (as many are looking for a similar solution to typical modest budget digital playback ills) or you can just buy new, still within your budget....

with pure electrostat speakers, yes you'll likely need a separate solution for better bass impact, chances are that aspect won’t be solved with a dac

also, the streaming option pointed out by another poster earlier is also worth serious consideration if you are willing to head in that direction... i would!

good luck

Thank you guys for all the input. I guess now i’m trying to decide between a Dac with tubes or not. Not sure if the tube would give me a little less harshness. Or a R2R would give me the same results.

no - r2r dacs as a generality don’t reduce treble grit, unwanted energy, harshness, as there is a wide range of tonality/voicing among r2r dacs, largely based the quality of on their output stage and power supply design - for instance the soekris 14/15/25 series dacs have quite strong treble energy, whereas the lower denafrips dacs have good treble energy coupled with a warm midrange, and the audio gd r2r dacs have a more recessed treble

tubed output dacs, otoh generally add a tubey flavor and more reliably reduce treble energy, add midbass warmth and provide a somewhat more expansive image and soundstage - mhdt provides one with BOTH nos r2r topology and a tube buffered output stage, like higher cost audio mirror, lampi’s etc etc