Can anyone please recommend warm sounding transport/DAC to replace tubed cdp ?

nordicom: Danafrips is a name I've never come across. . .  will investigate.

Thanks for the suggestions-- quite a few are new to me. 

rodge827: I have a modded Jolida JD100. 

aniwolfe: thanks for the cable recommendation. I'm afraid the upgrades you describe are, collectively, beyond my $2500 budget. 

aniwolfe; thanks for providing more information. The difference between a transport like the Cambridge and the PS Audio, as you surely must know, is that the PS Audio stores the digital data in memory first, and then plays it. I do not want to get involved in computer audio but this seems like a way to get similar benefits. It turns out that the Schiit Gungnir I'd hoped to demo, would cost me $200 (Schiit's 5% fee + shipping) should I elect to return it, which seems awfully expensive to me. I'm open to any alternatives I can demo affordably. I stopped purchasing gear I could not first hear in my system, in my room, years ago. Is the Empirical cable HDMI or Toslink? 

aniwolfe; I asked because my impression (based on 6Moons review)

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/psaudio7/perfectwave_3.html

is that the best sound to be gotten from the PS Audio player is via the PSA I2S interface, which is accessed via HDMI, not coax. I am a total newbie at this DAC stuff, though, so I could very well be mistaken. 

aniwolfe; here's the (I think) relevant quote:

"For communication between separate transport and DAC, S/PDIF transmission via coaxial cable became the standard. The clear advantage of I²S is that the four signals of Master Clock, Bit Clock, Word Clock and music data are sent down a cable in separate paralleled conductors. S/PDIF combines them in a serial stream and the DAC receiver must ‘unzip’ the various signals and process them further. Clearly I²S has many advantages. It’s simply curious that PS Audio opted for the HDMI standard as the physical carrier for its I²S interface".

aniwolfe; no worries. I do appreciate your input and I will keep that cable in mind should I decided to go with a different brand.