Digital front end question

Hi Tim, You have suggestions at ~$1000.
You can now buy a NEW Lexicon RT-20 for that money.
It is "A" rated by TAS and it sounds "excellent" in my Spectral/MIT based system. Seems like a STEAL compared to any other $1000 item and it plays all formats.
Good luck.Pete

If you have an iTunes account or any digital music, I would suggest that you buy a good DAC (the Benchmark mentioned above is a great place to start), and some type of media server such as a Logitech Duet or AppleTV. Download all of your CD's to WAV or AppleLossless files. You will be shocked by the sound and the ease of use. I love my AppleTV because it is just so easy to use, and after many, many DAC's I found one that's just perfect for my system. I sold a modded Denon 5910ci because the sound from the AppleTV DAC was just that good. I didn't think it was worth messing with the disc's anymore. For SACD and DVD's I use an unmodded Oppo 980 when I want to toss one of those in.

If I really wan to list to "perfect" music, I use vinyl.

So, my advice for digital front end, is bypass the disc player and go media server-DAC.

Good luck!!

Thanks Pete. Would you mind directing me to a place I can purchase the Lexicon for $1000 ? I searched Google, and found $3500 most places.
Thanks

If you would like to have HDCD decoding, the Classe DAC1's have been selling for around $1000. The Musical Fidelity A3 24 is also very nice sounding. The Benchmark may need some mods to get what you want. Cambridge just released a new DAC that you may want to consider, but I'm not certain of the price. I've owned the Classe (CDT & DAC1 combo) and listened to the MF and Benchmark. I'm partial to the Classe combo due to spending more time with it. The sonic goals that you're reaching for will be affected by the transport just as much as the DAC. For the price used, your 7700 is quite a transport bargain at its price point. (I have one also) If you could budget the same amount on the transport as the DAC, it will be easier to achieve your sonic goal. In my system, "air" was not one of the 7700's better qualities.

Thanks Mrderrick .... Good to know you have first hand experience with the same transport I'm using. I'm now looking hard at the Lexicon RT-20 that Pete reccomended. It has nothing but glowing reviews on the web every where I look.
I'm open to literally anything, but would prefer a single box solution if possible.