Will a DAC mellow Denon DCM 360

Egg on my face for not reading your followup--You already know that you don't have a digital out!!!! Sorry. I do agree that the 360 is harsh and thin sounding--and I definitely liked the smoothing/warming effect of my cables. They also made the soundstage huge! Otherwise, start auditioning some of Rotels players. The 991 is known as a smooth sounding one, and would be a nice match to the rest of your gear. And the 971 gets great attention, too, although it's primary fault seems to be a slight graininess. If its in the budget, sony just launched a 5 disc SACD player in their ES line. The ES players have always been highly regarded, and they tend to have a warm and rich tonal balance. I would say the CD player is definitely your weak link in the system. Good luck in you searching!

Thanks Sean and Ehm3, for confirming that the DCM 360 is harsh, I was begiining to doubt myself. And no matter how much tweaking I do, it will always before undercut by the CD player! Thanks Sean for pointing out the NAD 515, I never knew about it, and I have always wanted a Cal Audio rig. The tube/SS combination really is begiining to appeal to me, my brother has a new Audio Research setup (tube pre, SS amp), Rotel 991 CD, and Vandersteen 3 sigs that really delivers a beautifully smooth, detailed sound. While I don't have that kind of $10K+ cash, I think that I can get 70-80% there with the right component mix and I really think that in the "mid-fi" range, Rotel has the most appealing sound to me. So, thanks Ehm3 for pointing me back towards Rotels, the RCC-955 should met both my girlfriend's (demanded 5 changer) and my criteria. I think that I will try to A/B the NAD 515 vs. the Rotel 955 and find which suits our tastes. Then acquire a transport/DAC later for my own pleasure. Ps, this forum is so much more civilized than the drunken bar room brawl that Audioreview.com has.

Dark: There are a lot of good players in the price range that you are looking at. For example: Audio Refinement Complete (used), Cambridge 500 (new), CAL Icon MkII (used -I own this) and the CAL 5 changer (used). Check out as many as possible. I also listened to the Rotel 970 before it was discontinued and found it to be a little smoother than its replacement the 971. A nice thing about using a player as a transport (in the future) is that if you decide to go for any DAC mods that become available you can still play music on the player while the DAC is off to the factory. There is also a lot of info on previous threads in regard to inexpensive but good CD players, I guess just search "CD player".

Hey, Dark--check out the new post today for an RCD970 for $180. I agree with Dekay--I used to have a 970, and liked it pretty well. Although I don't have any firsthand knowledge of the others. The Audio Refinement seems to have a good following. (actually, I think Dekay reccomended it to me a few weeks ago! Sorry, Dekay--I ended up with a Linn)

Gret news, someone offered to buy my Denon today for exactly what I paid for it. So, now I've got a little more money to burn. Unfortunately, the significant otheris standing hard on the 5 cd changer (I think she's had enough of my fiddling for now, one of those "who does care more about" things). There's a real toss-up going on in my brain right now; NAD 515 or Rotel 955(?) at the higher price range, a Marantz cc4000 (some features probs, but has digital ouputs), or another stable carousel for less w/ the Musical Fidelity X-DAC I found for $69. The X-DAC got excellent reviews when it came out 2 yrs ago, and I've noticed that some people prefer 18 bit to the latest 24/96k (which I can't afford anyway). Decisions, decisions, decisions! I'm going to repost asking if anyone has used the MF X-DAC. Any suggestions on a good (cheap) carousel w/ digital outputs?