Looking to improve CD playback

mesch,
I have a BDA-1, and it is a fine DAC (I now have mine in my second system).  I also have a Bryston BCD-1 CD player.  Some years ago before I got into streaming, at the same time that I auditioned the BCD-1, I also auditioned the BDA-1.  Both at the dealer and and with a borrowed BDA-1, I experimented with a number of  lesser CD players and DVD players, including my own Denon 2910 DVD/SACD universal player hooked up to the BDA-1. It was no contest, even thought the BDA-1 was the technically superior DAC to the similar DAC built into the BCD-1, in terms of SQ, the BCD-1 just simply outperformed any of the combos I compared it to.  I came into the shop thinking about buying a good DAC, but wound up buying the BCD-1 instead.  When it came to spinning plain vanilla Redbook CD's the BCD-1 with it's rock solid Redbook CD only transport was the clear winner.  So the transport really matters.  A couple years later after Bluesound integrated streaming from Tidal I picked up both an original Bluesound Node and a BDA-1 to go with it.  It was and still is a very good combo, but couldn't quite match the BCD-1.  It was only after I started using a Melco N1A as my NAS (effectively as my CD transport) that I was able to approach the BCD-1 level of performance.   

Jazzman, yes the transport matters. I probably should go that route 1st. Always a debate. I am going to take my time with this.

Given the quality of the BDA-1, I could purchase a transport 1st.
Then swap out the DAC later.

Given I have the DV137 I could purchase the DAC 1st and purchase transport later.

Seems your experience would suggest the transport should be 1st.

I'm just saying not to underestimate the role of the transport.
I also like the idea of controlling your variables and changing only one variable at a time. I know from experience just how good the BDA-1 is.  My suspicion is that when it comes to spinning discs, that your transport is currently the weaker link in your chain.  All things being equal,  DVD transports tend to introduce more jitter than dedicated Redbook CD transports. That is why so many high-end players are limited to doing Redbook CD only.  In my personal experience, the uptick in SQ feeding the BDA-1 from the BCD-1 was no where near as great as the SQ differential the BCD-1by itself had over the Denon 2910 / BDA-1 combo.

Jazzman, I very much appreciate your encouragement to not underestimate the role of transport. It is most likely that my DVD player used as transport is the weakest link for Cd playback, not the BDA-1. Thus, I am thinking towards the purchase of a CD only transport prior to purchasing a new DAC.

The question then becomes 'which one'? 

I have a Cambridge CXC transport which works smoothly and quietly.I haven't compared it to another though so that may not be helpful at all:)It only has one coax input.The only thing that's not good about it is the remote.It's meant to operate several other Cambridge products so the buttons for the transport are all down at the bottom in a small section.
I'm still loving the Tubadour after almost six months with it.It's very sensitive/responsive to tube and cable changes.It definitely sounds it's best with a good shielded pc.The other day I pulled out some old cables from my accessory box and swapped in a Gabriel Gold Revelation ic cable for the digital cable.It shouldn't have worked well at all but holy cow!Everything just came to life is the only way I can describe it.Crystal clear and "real".
Possibly one of the other types of connections would more easily transmit this quality of sound?I have no experience with them though.