Which cd player: New /w Mod or just plain new?

How much do want to spend?
Also, we don't have lives here. :)

maybe borrow a good DAC for your cd player

Wow, nice system....I think just about any higher end player would be a nice addition and give you a better presentation in comparison to the A3.

Right off the bat, I'd recommend a resolution audio opus 21, which can be had used for $2.5k or the GNSC moddified version for 5k new (highly recommended IMHO). The opus is a very musical player that -I think- will compliment your CJ equipment nicely.

I second Lkdog! Other thing, no matter what you do or how much you spend, all fixed voicing cd players are going to really really suck on some of your favorite cd's. My approach was to define what I didn't like about the sound of my current cd player on some cd's (too bright), and find a reasonably priced cd player that erred in the other direction (in this case a stock njoe tjoeb). If you want a one box solution for being able to match cd player voicing to particular cd weakness, I'm thinking Cary makes one with selectable tube or solid state output.