CD Player with volume or preamp

I run my Wadia 830 direct into my amp....the way it's meant to be run...use a Shunyata Black Mamba power cord on it....those two units you mention give different sound...I'm a fan of a minimalist system and chose Wadia so I could eliminate the preamp and those extra interconnects...your friend would get the biggest bang for the buck with the Wadia set up.

Ayre CX-7 CDP ($3k retail)
Ayre AX-7 Integrated amp ($3k retail)
Some nice relatively easy to drive speakers ($2-3K)
Rest of money spend on cables.

The above sound will be better than anything short of the Wadia 861 ($8k retail) pumped directly into an amp. Which would break your budget.

The Ayre CX-7 is really a nice player, especially when being put into Ayre preamplification. This combo also gives your friend the choice of adding future sources like a tuner or SACD player etc.

I can suggest an Ayre dealer if you do not have one locally to you.

KF

The current single source in my system is the Granite Audio 657 cd player and I use the tube output stage with manual level control. The analog output is adjustable from 0-30v. The signal goes to a Placette Passive linestage. I have the output on the cd player set below 1/3. At that setting, most recordings are barely audible on the lowest linestage setting and loud before half. The beauty of this combination is the signal can be increased going into the passive to be attenuated for volume control to the amp. I think I'm getting the benefits of a passive transparency with no negatives and the volume control on the Placette is outstanding.

You should avoid any cd player that has a level control on the digital output.

The upside of cdp to amp is saving on one pair of interconnects, cord, and preamp. You could put more into the other components within your budget. What speakers are you considering for the system?