Thx for all the responses...the thread is sure to generate opinions as there are lots of ways to listen to music, as always :)
I don't need blue ray, manta ray, sacd or whatever...if anything, cds are my way to be lazy when not spinning vinyl.
And it's more just a convenience than anything, as I have several systems, so I never really know what sounds best as I'm always moving stuff around...I just liek the idea of an amp and cdp together. I've been running an QADcom GCD575 with a CJ MF2300, and it sounds great. I'm sure a preamp would do it all justice too...more of a convenience than anything...
Seems though, that there is not much that can touch the 575, and be under $200, that has an analog volume control too.