New DAC or player?

The marantz as a transport is limited by quite high levels of jitter on the digital out. I own a CD67SE and when I paired it with a Monarchy 22B DAC I heard virtually no improvement. Then I added a Monarchy DIP and the sound snapped into focus.

I like the marantz in that it's inexpensive, well built, and very reliable, but I think if you add a DAC it will have to reclock the signal. A non-reclocking DAC will probably not gain you very much.

So, having said that the DAC that is currently all the rage is the Benchmark one. I have not heard it but by all accounts (and I don't think I've read a single negative review) it is very good and has excellent reclocking.

For $1000 you would probably do worse than the benchmark.

If you want to keep the the Marantz and use an external DAC, I would recommend the Bel Canto DAC2. I found that a decent player or DVD player has minimal affect due to the internal dejitter. It was definitely a qualitative shift for me coming from a Classe .3 CDP.

I second the Bel Canto DAC2

My answer will be slanted, because I believe in quality transports, such as the Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 or the new Stello 200. The most economical upgrade for you could be a one-box player. I am also a believer in second-hand gear because I think that it offers tremendous value for the dollar. If I were in the market for a player today I would probably be looking for the best used Meridian that I could afford. The Acurus ACD-11 is a very nice unit for around $400 used. Actually, the options are almost limitless. I have a Sony CDP-XA7ES that I would be willing to sell, for that matter. Good luck!

I went through the same exercise a few years ago w/ a 67SE.
I tried all the reasonably priced DACs Du jour(MSB,PS audio and the Bel Canto 1.0 ) I ended up w/ a used CAL Audio Alpha
and found the combo to be one of the most analog sounding setups I've ever heard. The Alpha is truly old technology
( 18 bit bitdac) but a winner when loaded w/ good NOS tubes
and resonably cheap here on Agon.

Thanx guys, opinion seems to be a bit divided between a DAC and a new player. I don't know what I'm gonna do yet, I'll just check out the secondhand market and see what'll come my way. And Poetcallus, I wouldn't mind owning the Sony, I always liked their ES-line, but since I live in Europe and I got the feeling you don't, that is a bit of a problem. I did see a nice Meridian player on some other board, but also a nice (Dutch) Van Medevoort DAC, so.....

The Sony ES line is one of the best imo. I'm using an Dvpnc 555ES with the digital filter set to slow. It sounds excellent through my VMPS RM 40's which are extremely transparent. The warranty is very good too.