The Icon makes a very nice transport. Plugged mine into a used (for one month) Assemblage 3.1 DAC, and it beats some very expensive transports. If you ever have DAC trouble, you've still got a real nice back-up player. I would get the newest DAC you can afford, as the technology is changing rapidly. By the way, Tara Video Cable (!) makes a very affordable digital cable. I think model is RSC Prime. Don't spend much over $100 on digital cable.
DACs - New vs. Old
The next change I want to make in my system is the digital front end. The system is currently CAL Icon MkII (no HDCD), Classe CAP-150 and Hales Rev 3s. Has anyone been able to do a direct comparison between used sub $1K and new dacs is that same range? I'd like to keep the Icon as a transport if I can so I can plumb the analog outs to the theatre pre-amp. I will also consider a new CD player if I have to. The nature of my current system has me leaning in the used Theta direction - HELP! Any comments are appreciated.