A newbie deciding on a transport/DAC

I own a Sony DVP-S7700 DVD Player, Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 and Sonic Frontiers SFD-2MKII. As far as transports go, that "best in the world" review of the S7700 is a joke. The SFT-1 walks all over it. It's a fine sounding transport, but it's mid-fi sony junk compared to real high-end audio.

I purchased the Parasound about a year ago at a similar price and have been very happy with it. I had auditioned a lot of different transports and the Parasound was the overall best sounding at a reasonable price. As an alternative I would consider a Pioneer DVD with a used Audio Alchemy DTI 2.0 or Pro. I have found that either Audio Alchemy enhances the sound of any transport I have tried, including the Parasound. I have not heard the MSB version III but did audition the MSB version I and did not like it. It's worth about $400, but is no giant killer as advertised. If $400 is all you want to spend I would suggest looking for a used dac. I have purchased used Micro Mega dacs for $300 and $500 and they both sounded better than the MSB. I also have a Bel Canto Dac 1 and the only thing I have heard that is better is a Theta Pro Gen V. For digital cables, the best bargain I have heard is the Apogee Wyde Eye and the best sounding-the Harmonic Technology.

Check these reviews on the Bel Canto DAC 1: http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/belcanto_dac1.htm http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/belcanto_dac1_followup.htm Good luck. Charlie