Digital Front End.. help please

SF is out of the tube business, at least for now, so that might be a consideration.

I don't necessarily agree with your separate transport/DAC option in that with any new format you may have to update one or both, and there's no guarantee they'll be upgradeable. You also have to be concerned with jitter and digital cables along with the expense/space requirements of two separate boxes, all of which are avoided with a well-designed, one-box player. I'm currently using an EVS Millennium DAC1 that I love, but when I upgrade it'll be to a one-box player--for what it's worth.

Given your criteria a used Audio Aero Capitole Mk.1 seems like a good idea, but I wouldn't do the Prima player as it lacks the STARS upsampling/interpolating program that seems to be important to achieving better sound(see Soundstage.com reviews of original and 24/192 Capitoles for comparison). I believe the Prima DAC does have the STARS system so that may be an option. Upsampling and interpolation done properly can be a very good thing, and I think your making a mistake to reject it out of hand as you will be excluding some exceptional players.

Speaking of which, another player that is reputed to be very analog-like is the Electrocompaniet EMC-1(24/192) that you could get new in your price range. If you don't want to go used this may be your best option given all your criteria and reservations about buying used. There is a new review out on this unit in www.stereotimes.com, and many people think this is one of the best players available. Hope this helped and best of luck.

Tim

theta data II with ead dsp7000 mkIII will keep you bellow 1k and will be the perfect match to your system.
you should pay much more to get a better sound from one box.
for your future and more expencive reference you can try out Cary 306/200 or GamuT CD1.

dennis,

didnt know you were in a 2.5K range, sorry. I would strongly suggest you audition the Meridian 508.24, the EMC1 Mk II and the Gamut CD1, which are all in this price range and are imho leaders in their class (as far as my personal experience can attest).

I would not go the seperates way. I think they become interesting at a very high price range (10k a piece). And yet once you reach that magic 8k figure you can get the AA....

Cheers

Be careful about used units more than a year or two old. Its pretty widely accepted that DAC chips have improved substantially in just the past couple years, so many lower cost new DACs approach the performance of high-end brand DACs using earlier generation chips. Buy with your ears, not your eyes.

I'd check out the aforementioned Meridian 508.24 (it is really smooooth) and the Naim CD5, or the older CD3.5 with a Flatcap power supply. I audiotioned both makes (508.24 vs. 3.5) a while back (Aerius driven by a JRDG Concentra). If I only listened to classical, I would have gone with the Meridian, but I found the Naim to be punchier and more musical. Both are great players.

Have fun looking