Replacement for RA Opus 21 CDP

I highly recommend the new Ear Acute. I know it has at least one digital input, but you can check this out. The older Acute is also great, but no digital inputs. OTOH, they can be picked up in the 3K range used, making them a great buy.

I was and still am a huge fan of the Opus 21, I owned it for about 4 years, loved it. I did want something more though and here is what I found to surpass it. Of course, if you like the BB1704 chips I was not able to find any other unit that had other chips that I liked better.

Wadia uses the 1704s, any of the higher Wadias will do it, The Esoteric D70 is essentially the ultimate expression of the 1704 chip, I own it now and doubt I can find something that is better. The Esoteric D05 is better, but still missing some of that organic nature I get from the 1704s. The Esoteric X03 is also better, all in one box but no digital input, it has 1704s as well. I suggest a D70 and a Krell 300CD as a transport. Pick a Krell with one of the Teac transports, not the philips ones. Other transports include Vecteur D2, there are a lot of others to choose from. You could also use a PC as a transport. That is a whole other topic.

Cary 303t and 306 would be two that you may want to study on and think about. Both great players with digital inputs.

***Dealer disclaimer***

Your original thought about the Cantata is probably your best thought. This is a wonderful sounding cdp that has enough digital options to make anyone happy. I have had mine for more than 18 months now and never get tired of hearing its presentation. I wish that the Stereophile review had gone into the sound quality of the Cantata instead of spending the entire review on connectivity to the Cantata's DAC so that more people would have the urge to experience this player.

Thanks, I'm going to try listen to a few options over the next few months.