$2500.00 to spend on int.amp and cd player

I'm not such a big fan of the NAD CD players. I think you'd get better value from the likes of Cambridge, Arcam or Musical Fidelity from the British ranks. Others worth trying to audition with the Rogue amp might be the new Bryston player or the entry level Moon. I'm sure others here have many more recommendations of US brands. Don't know much about the Rogue Cronus.

How about a Primaluna Prologue 2 integrated amp and a Cary 303/200 or 308T CDP ? This combo can be had today from Audiogon used for <$2000 and these pieces can be easily sold if you don't like them .

The Primaluna can achieve different sounds by rolling a myriad of input and output tubes while being nearly maintance free . I believe the Cary CDP's to be a step or two above the NAD units .

Great advice Saki70.

Rega does a bang up job in the CDP department.

I'd not exclude a Sony SCD XA777es, or even the older SCD 777 2ch unit. The XA is better though, and more flexible.

The new Cambridge units too are worth checking out to meet your $$$ constraints.

...and many choose a cheap DVDP with a DAC like Apogee, Benchmark, or Lavry, as these have jitter lessening circuitry.

You could get the Naim Nait and CD5i. You can get the newest version (italic i)for about $2k right now on A'gon. The Naim Nait gets universal praise for its musical sound.