at that price point, yule get best sound running an inexpensive cd-player thru a nice $3000 tubed preamp - especially if ya buy used. i'd put my $350 ($500 retail) nad cd-changer + $2000 ($4600 retail) melos music-director preamp up against any comparably-priced cd-player run straight-in. i *do* confess that the preamp has *also* improved the sound of my vinyl & fm considerably, too! :>) personally, i'm gonna wait 'til there's a decent sacd/cd/dvd-a player out there for ~$500 before i spend any more money on digital hardware.
doug