Help me replace my Rotel 1072

if you're hellbent on change (a sentiment i certainly understand) and seeking warmth, you might try a tube cdp--around your budget vincent or jolida come to mind

Loomisjohnson, the Jolida tempted me back when I bought the Rotel, but I wonder if it (and the Vincent?) might be past their prime by now.

I started looking for something new simply because digital technology seems to improve at a rapid clip. The best digital I've heard (Wavelength, Ayre, Boulder, and ARC) has been phenomenal. All of those "bests" sounded much more resolving than my Rotel (admittedly in different systems) but very relaxed and easy to listen to at the same time.

The Rotel sounds very, very good, but I wondered if a newer player might give me a taste of what I'm missing.

ablang:
1. granted that digital technology is rapidly advancing, but the extent to which "advanced" equates to better-sounding is open to debate.
2. since the "bests" you list are all well beyond your stated budget, maybe you should consider keeping the rotel as a transport and adding a dac--you'll likely hear more significant difference than by changing from a rotel to, say, a comparably-positioned marantz. i know you said you'd prefer not to add a dac, but you will get more bang-for-buck + it'll be easier to hide from your wife than a new cdp.

"I started looking for something new simply because digital technology seems to improve at a rapid clip. The best digital I've heard (Wavelength, Ayre, Boulder, and ARC) has been phenomenal. All of those "bests" sounded much more resolving than my Rotel (admittedly in different systems) but very relaxed and easy to listen to at the same time.

The Rotel sounds very, very good, but I wondered if a newer player might give me a taste of what I'm missing."

You can definately improve the sound of your system with a better player. The brands you list above are all excellent. You may want to consider a Wadia. If you like Ayre, you probably like that as well. Wadia. Cary is another brand you may like. Their digital products are very underrated. Given that you already have the 1072 and you like it, I would take my time in making another selection.

Probably my only real complaint about the Rotel is that its presentation is rather dry.

The first discs I played when I bought it were Bach's Mass in B minor on Harmonia Mundi (Philippe Herreweghe). Decay of reverberation was truncated and the sense of the hall reduced compared to what I'd heard through my old Marantz changer, my iPod, and even a Sony Playstation 1. Of course, the Rotel sounded wildly better than those players in every other way--that's why I've enjoyed it so much for four years now.

Still, that "dry" quality has been pretty consistent. The background is very quiet, but that quietness also feels like it removes some low-level (amplitude, not frequency) information. My impression is that Rotel--wisely--traded off some resolution to go easy on the ears.

In any case, you all may be right that I should wait till I can afford a real upgrade (maybe pick up one of my "bests" used) and enjoy the Rotel meanwhile. Since I can't easily audition the stuff I could afford right now, I'd hoped for a sense of whether newer players are performing a lot better (more resolution w/o digititus) around the Rotel's same price. Seems like it ain't necessarily so... The DAC option might be moving onto the table, too.