CD PLAYER

It might help to understand what you feel is deficient in this setup. I thought the XDS1 was extremely resolving and the most neutral DAC I had. It does help pairing it with a tube preamp like an Audio Research Reference 5/5SE that I am using now.

The next step up from EMM is the two box combo: TSDX/DAC2X which 3 of my friends have upgraded to. Separating the power between the transport and the DAC is supposed to improve the performance significantly.

I hear the Audio Note Fifth Element with separate DAC and power supply sounds nice and one can usually pick it up for only about $200,000.00 and have a few bucks left for some CD's.

How about a Burmester 069?

Do yourself a favor and audition an EAR Acute 3. It's remarkable, and well worth your consideration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGI5pxkggrQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Good luck

I love my Ayre....comes damned close and sometimes and in some ways surpases vinyl