Will I be a jaw dropping Wow for an upgraded CDP?


My current system

AES/Cary SE-1 SET (300b tubes) amp
Decware Zen Amp (used both alternatively)
AES/Cary AE-3 Preamp
Sony and Panasonic walkman type CDP (using line out)
Low end Audioquest and homemade RS magnet wire interconnect
Axiom M22Ti speakers (with pure copper monster cable)

I listen to a variety of music, but fall in love with vocal (especially female) and chamber music. I also listen to both Pop/rock and Classical. Most of the time I listen to moderate level, not very lound (to give you the idea, I never clip my Zen amp on my 92 dB rated speakers yet.).

To be frank I am pretty happy with my set up right now. Female vocal sound wonderful on this setup.

Just that I can afford a better CDP, probably for around 600 or so. I am wondering how much better I should expect to spend 600 on it?

I know many people are happy to pay 10 grands just to get small amount of improvement. For me I try to justify how my money will pay off. $600 is quite a lot for me and I would be disappointed if the improvement is so subtle that I barely notice it. For example I had a failed marry with the new Music Hall MMF CD25 (failed miserably and had to return it.)
As it wasn't burnt in completely yet so it hard to justify. I know that it sounds differnt from my walkman CDP, but not sure if I could say it sounds better.

I have read a lot about CDP selections, but still can't justify to get one. Many story about Model A is better than model B, but not much about how better.

For example Rega Planet 2000 is better than Cambridge audio 500SE, but by how much? Is it worth extra 500 for that differnce?

I know this kind of question is hard to answer as it subjective, but still would like to hear thought from experienced people who went to this route before.

Thanks a lot,

Ake
ake
If compatible why not try a $200 cal sigma tube dac? I am using one along with a roksan caspian cdp and it does wonders even with this too smooth "high end CDP".

Aloha!
You could get another Walkman (or home CD player) with digital output and buy a used Theta DAC. A Theta Chroma could be purchased for about $400. When you have more funds you could add on jitter filters such as; a Theta TLC or Monarchy DIP, and better digital cables.
Ake, before I suggest anything, I would like to say that I own a $10K CD transport/DA converter. It does not mean anything if you are not enjoying the music! I also own a $200 DVD/CD player, which I also enjoy very much. Guess what, it is a Panasonic DVD-RV31K !!! Very decent piece compare to many "hi-end" CD player.

Regards

BTW, I also enjoy my $10K CD transport/DA converter, too :-)
When I was in HS, my system consisted of a Nak receiver and used a portable top of the line second generation Sony discman as source. Theoretically, using portable diskmans as source has a great advantage over regular cd players.

The power supply of the portable discman is dc based, at least my Sony with Ni-Cad rechargeable batter was. This makes for cleaner and less harsh sounding music compared to mass market cd players with lesser power supplies and stock powercords. It sounds better than the CDPXA7ES when used with a headphone, but the output voltage was too low on the portable unit to power a Sennheiser.

I had absolutely no problem sonically with my portable unit, but it was pilfered from my dorm room. And I replaced it with a CAL Delta and Alpha with a Meridian dejitter with about $1000 worth of powercords, and digital and analogy ICs.

Ok, in summary, prepare to spend big bucks to get that jaw dropping WOW.