CDP Upgrade

how much you lookin to spend (give us both the $$ you're going to tell your wife you spent, as well as the ACTUAL amount you'd be willing to spend. There is a LOT of relly good used digital gear out there.....

"...what I can expect by upgrading [my CD player]?"

Like all audio upgrades, you can expect to feel happy with the improvement, or to feel you have spent too much, or to vacillate between the two perpetually. Most dangerously, you can feel your audio appetite only stimulated by the upgrade, not at all sated. You may find yourself wanting more, and more, and… well, it can get silly pretty quickly.

Seriously, as a general rule, I have found that if done wisely, upgrading your source will always make you happy if you love music. There is no substitute for getting more musical information in the audio chain, which is what a good source does. And of course, what constitutes upgrading wisely is auditioning as much equipment as possible before you buy.

I made a similar move way back when from a decent Rotel player, such as yours, to a Cary 306-200, then to an Ayre CX-7. I also thought the Rotel player was fine, but I can assure you, you'll be amazed and very suprised with the sonic differences of a well regarded player. My suggestion is for you is to do some reading here for popular players and try to find a hi-end audio store in town to "demo" the equipment.

Ask your wife to join you in demoing. Your living room will never have sounded so good and that will go a long way with her. At least it did with my wife. Good luck!