Burning question

I listened to a lot of digital systems at this years' Rocky Mountain Audio Show. 'Best of show' for me was the Audio Research Reference CD-9. To my ear it compared favorably with the finest Analog rigs.

20k would get a heck of an analog rig. Why bother with an approximation ;)

Thanks for your response. I do appreciate my analogue and have a pretty fair rig now.
TNT5
JMW 12 arm, thinking of getting 3D arm
Pass XP25
Dynavector XV-1S

Have a huge CD collection that would like to enjoy as much as I can, however when I want to really listen I break out the vinyl.

Sigmund,

I think Teajay offers some astute comments. Specifically, of the two components you have, I would also opine that the DAC is the weak link, as there has been significantly more improvement in DACs over the last 10 years or so. (Admittedly, though, it has been a couple years since I heard the ML combo). By contrast, in my experience, a number of the best transports today are still those that were exceptional back in the day, e.g., Esoteric P-0, Jadis JD-1, CEC TL-0, etc. As another example, I used to own an Altis Centauri transport a number of years ago that I would love to get back. Again, based on my experience, these units, especially with some minor mods, can stand up to most of what is available today (with the caveat that I have not heard the truly expensive state of the art stuff, such as the Metronome Kallista Signature or Esoteric P-01, which I believe are out of your proposed price range)

Indeed, as you can tell through some simple searches on the topic, other than the Esoteric VRDS transport mechanism, there has not been much improvement in (and perhaps even a decline in) the quality of transport mechanisms currently available.

With that said, I do not have any opinion on the Concert Fidelity DAC to which Teajay refers. However, there are a number of DACS under 10-15k that I think will really give you a notable improvement. Of those, my favorite is the Stahl Tek Vekian Opus, but the MBL 1611 and Esoteric D-02 are also good choices. Based on my recollection, I would also suggest the EMM Labs DACs as far superior to the ML 30.6

If you were to go the single box route, the Playback Designs MPS-05, Esoteric K-01, and EMM Labs XDS-1 are all excellent choices, depending upon your particular tastes. I have also heard a number of comments about the Soulution 540 as well, but have never heard it in person.

Best of luck.

Thanks Rzado,
Those are basically all the units that I have been considering. Any ideas as to where the PS Audio Direct Stream fits in this mix?
Richard