PS Audio Ultralink DAC vs newer CD player

i am in the understanding that esoteric transports are excellent, also ps dac are of excellent quality. It is interesting that i have owned some older linn transport and dac equipment, which was very musical and ofcourse the build quality was first rate, as esoteric and ps, but i now own a 640 azur cd player and it sounds more musical and detailed than the older linn quality equipment that cost thousands per piece, while i have a 400 dollar player ,on sale, sounds wonderful. it is not like i don't know anything about equipment, i have owned marantz tubes in the 50s, quad in the 60s, ads ,now aerial,in the 70s , krell 80s, linn 90s...all high end ,high priced equipment which was worth everything i paid, at that time, but now, somehow, and i don't know how, some reasonable priced equipment is 85 percent as good or 95percent as good now, low cost , excellent musical output...i don't sell anything, i am just an ole time who loves to listen to music and spend tons of money on equipment, i now have 1700 in my system, it now sounds 90 percent as good as some of my 5 to 8 thousand dollars systems....buy the cambridge, you can always sell it...good listneing and thanks for letting me run off about the subject...

Sas Quach
You are where you need to be. If your transport takes a dive, just replace the transport.
If you want a warmer sound you could go for a tube preamp.

The biggest problem with separate trans/dacs is the SPDIF interface. The new PS Audio Perfect Wave eliminates this problem by using I2S. CD players eliminate SPDIF

Myself I have a Raysonic 228 cd player, replacing a 168 which is now for sale. Glorrious sound at a fairly sane price, but the PS was not avialble, nor is it quite, but if you can wait, do so

please does the ultralink 2 has discrete output analogue stage?
thanks for reading
paolo venezia italy

very nice DAC, very musical (UltraAnalog DAC modules!)