CD upgrade

Axendo, nice system!
I have done the same thing with a $120 cd player, as I sold my D/A and was waiting for my new one, I used my sons cd player and when I hooked up it didn't sound half bad for the first two minutes, then after a few minutes, it started to hurt my ears as I noticed a lacking in detail, bass was not any good, mids were not smooth,and highs were grainy, It didn't have that 3-D, air, and synergy thing going on, It sounded like the system I have in my garage the $5 garage sale one!
but now that I have my new D/A, the system is sounding very nice. What I have found that if you want to improve the sound 2 times you have to spend 50 times more! and it gets worse the farther you move up.
hear4, Sorry for getting of track here but I think the transport with a digital cable is your your best move and there are many you can pick up in your price range.
Happy Listening!

Thanks everyone. I think I have a pretty good digital cable (Kimber) so I'll look into transports. Since I'm also looking into a new DVD what about something like the Denon 3800 or the Sony 999ES as a transport. That way I can potentially kill two birds with one stone

Hear4, you can combine the two but I think you need to up your budget a bit, Theta, EAD make nice DVD/CD players. If two channel is more important do the transport now, then perhaps a Phllips 985 DVD/Recorder for the DVD. I have found the playback is best with sperate cd transport. There is a thread here, Do transports matter! you may want to check it out! Dont get me wrong as there are some combo players out there but they wont give that last bit of greatness were looking for, at least not right now. It also deppends how critical you are about two channel.
Happy Listening!

Try the Marantz SA-8260 SACD/CD player, or better yet, sell your current gear to help purchase a used Marantz SA-14. Try SACD in home, you'll get hooked, and the redbook playback of the Marantz is hard to fault as well.

Personally, I would skip the DVD/CD player option, having never heard a DVD player compete with a similar priced CD or SACD/CD player, you'll get more sound with less bells and whistles.

Also, fwiw, I hear huge difference in the transports, and feel the transport is actually more important then the dac. Spend as much on the transport as you do on the dac, or even a little more on the transport and digital cable, if you wish to do the 2-box thing.