Add a DAC or buy a new CD player?

My situation mirrors yours, and the advice of Elizabeth et al is pertinent. MY Rotel 855 sounds wonderfully rhythmic and taut with my new high-rez (Pass Aleph P) preamp, but woefully grainy and etched on top. My first demo of the BelCanto w/DVD was better, but ultimately flawed by a perceived upward spectral tilt and "whitishness". So I'm chasing a more highly-resolved CDP that doesn't lack pace (like the ARCAM), nor sounds uptilted. My rack (nor wallet) can't support the Electrocompaniet, so.... Philc: dealer told me the Rotel 991 (adjustable dither, $1300) is discontinued, NOT the whole line. I'm on the waiting list for the new Millenium DAC2, but my patience is waning.... (Oh...Kadlec: several years ago my 855's motor failed. Factory-rep service here in MA (EQUITY) replaced analog op-amp with one from the current series, a cap, AND the motor for $90 total. The top end and was clearly more resolved...but, again, consequently grainier. It was an easy mod, and satisfactory until this recent system upgrade.) I found the YBA-designed ARC CDP to be a smooth compromise for $700--not reference quality, but especially good at taming bright commercial CDs while retaining musicality. Good Luck! Ernie

hey, soobieguru, there's a melos maestro reference preamp f/s by melos audio restorations (the *new* melos company) on audioreview for $1k - i bet it'll tame the digital-nasties of yer rotel better than yer pass aleph p does, and no resolution/detail penalty... doug

Although a good pre amp would be nice, the biggest improvement for your $1500 budget would be to buy one of the many excellent dacs for $1000 or less, such as EVS Millenium, Birdland Odeon Lite, Bel Canto Dac1 (used), or even modified MSB Link Dac. One of these dacs is far superior to any Rotel CDP dac. Preamp cannot "improve" the signal it is fed, the quality and design of your dac to accurately read and remove distortion from the digital signal is what makes the best CDPs sound more natural, this is where you should concentrate, Sam

hi megasam, i don't disagree w/your opinion, but i guess i tink that w/a $500 cd-player, ya got about 95% of what cd has to offer - that last 5% is *way* too expensive, until ya get closer to 95% w/a preamp - ymmv. regards, doug

Thanks for the tip, Doug, but I'm way too concerned about compromising the Aleph's superb synergy with my Aleph 2s to try that Muse. I tend to agree with Sam that I (and the thread-head) should concentrate on cleaning up the front end; I'm about to try one of Caterham's Neuance isolation platforms to see if I can clean up the top octaves a bit. (The guy who is Virtual Mode uses a damped Rotel as his reference front end for passive pre development...sheesh!...it's hard to know who to believe. I'll let you know what the platform does compared to an air bladder I'm currently using. Cheers.