3 player shortlist, help me make a choice.....

why limit yourself to three players?

for under $2000 used (or new (DAC))

wadia 830
sonic frontiers cd-1
audio research cd2 (new cd3 coming out)
cal delta with EVS Millennium II dac ($1050 new)
(one reviewer said the Millennium I (without upsampling) blew away his Meridian 508.24)

The previous suggestions are all good. I have one concern about your existing system. The LS2 (I owned an LS2B for three years) is very bright and a better digital front end might not sound good to you through that line preamp. I replaced mine with a Sonic Frontiers Line 3 and the improvement was incredible. I liked the LS2B in a lot of ways but it could drill you into the wall with bright treble. If your system is not bright now then disregard my comments. (I was driving a Krell KSA200s and Thiel 3.6s..all on the bright side.)

Keis

not to jump away too much from the initial thread

thanks for the response

The LS2 is a little bright - I've tamed it a bit with Cardas Gold Cross and HT Pro Silway II cables.

I have tried out an Audio Research LS5 which is incredible, dynamic and not bright on the top end. As for front end I ended up going with the Cal Delta transport and EVS Millenium II dac. Have a set of ultimate attenuators coming to test out bypassing the preamp for now

thanks

Tom