Upgrade from Cal CL-15 ?


I have a mint condition Cal CL15 that has performed without any single problem. I have been very happy with this machine until recently. I sold my TT and had to wait almost 2 weeks before I could spin vinyl again. I found listening to Cd a pretty bad experience for almost 2 weeks. Now I have never spent a lot of money on a CD player before so I am a little uneducated on what is out there with respect to my Cal. I have a pretty good rig going on now and the Cal is definatly at the bottom of my system. So, being the obsesive, compulsive person I am, I am thinking about upgrading the Cal.
But I have no clue what I should be looking for. Here is my system. Proac Studio 250 speakers, Rogue Magnum M120 mono's, Rogue Magnum 99 pre, Vpi HW19 jr TT and a Graham Slee era gold MkV phono stage.
So what would the digital experts recommend to put into the chain here. I would like to keep it under 1K for a used system. I was also thinking I would later maybe like to add a DAC, so a digital output would be nice.
Thanks, Scott
scottht
You don't like the Cal Labs? What don't you like about the sound? What I/C's are you using? Have you thought about adding a DAC into your system?
Having owned a CL-15, I don't agree that the *Cal is at the bottom of your system*. I think it might pretty be hard to better it for $1000, & it's probably a real bargain for what they sell for used. You might check out the Ah! Tjoeb 4000 tho reviewed in the Nov. '03 S'Phile. It goes for about $1K fully loaded, & the reviewer compared it to a couple of different CAL units. I wonder tho if you're not just bummed with CD in general......maybe start checking out some machines that also do SACD(?). Good luck!
had a cal cl-20 in the house while my marantz 8260 was being repaired ( had the cal for 4 weeks).

the cl-20 is nice smooth player but uninvolving ims(in my system) imo.

the marantz 8260 was more involving but there have been qc issues with some units. so try before you buy from a authorized dealer.

it is really hard to find a involving digital source, please let me know what you end up with.

good luck in the hunt !!

mike