CD Transport or media server/streamer

I had the same issue 2 years ago, buy a new CD player or go into server/streamer. My dealer talked me into the server/stream Bluesound Vault 2 and I have never looked back. I burned all my CD's into the Bluesound and can't for the life of me find a good reason to play a CD.

The Bluesound is a bit over $1,000 new; used or DIY for less, but the Bluesound was basically plug and play and I didn't want to deal with any problems of DIY. Also, the Bluesound has an internal DAC, so you can just plug it into your pre. And later if you like, you can use an external DAC for an easy upgrade.

The Bluesound lets you load all your CD music, gives you all the streaming you might want and some you didn't know existed (Radio Paradise for one). It really got me comfortable with streaming. Yes, there are 'better' and 'cheaper' solutions, but not in the same box. I have since upgraded to an Aurender, but have never regretted getting the Bluesound. I know this sounds like an ad, but it's one of the few times I was 100% happy with the dealer and the solution. This worked very well for me. Hope this helps.

Yes, your CD player has a compliment of digital inputs on the back, so you can use it as a DAC. You could attach a streamer and a transport. I recommend not using the optical, they tend not to be as good.

Transports within CD players tend to be unreliable. You might verify with Krell if they can repair it. Typically companies lay in a lot of transports for repair… but it is pretty old.

I’ll let someone familiar with transports make a specific recommendations. I would like to mention that streamers are like any other component… like a turn table, the better you get, the better you will hear. I would put my money into a good streamer as CDs are really on the way out and a good streamer will provide all the music you already own times thousands for $14.99 / month (Qobuz streaming recommended). Streaming can exceed the sound quality of a red book CD. Unfortunately, it is important to match the quality of the streamer to your system, and a $1,000 streamer is unlikely to come close to the quality of the rest of your system. Although you can certainly get one for that cost. If you budget is a hard number, this would be the way to go. It might lead you to later upgrades.

1. Most probably.

2. Sure can with just a server/streamer or a media player/streamer. You just need something besides USB or i2s output.

Since your Krell has digital inputs, as others have indicated you can still use it as a DAC.  It will probably sound like it always did with a decent transport, say Cambridge Audio or Project, for under a grand.  If you go the Bluesound Vault route 

you do get a ripper transport DAC and storage all in one.  My Bluesound units have mostly mechanically failed after around 4 years of use so personally I would stick to buying the transport and then you don’t have to burn the CDs to listen to them