Old Philips CD as transport or new playe

Seldenr - I am currently in a similar quandry - my current player (CAL Icon MkII) is roughly the same age, and sounds so good I hate to give it up. My feeling is to go the DAC route. You can get alot of DAC for 800-1000. If you hate the way the transport works/sounds ... look for a used player or dedicated transport later to replace the Philips. You see alot of Theta gear on this site at unreal low prices. Good luck.

Seldener & Slingshot: I use the Icon MKII as a transport with the Bel Canto DAC and it sounds great. Out of curiosity I tried a friends new/used Meridian 506.24 player as a transport and could just detect a little more definition in the bass and mid bass, but it was very slight indeed and really could not hear a difference in the mids and highs. I have also been tempted by the Theta transports, which are said to wonderfull, but have decided to wait and see if SACD takes off. If it does I will trade the CAL for an SACD player and use the BC to improve its standard CD playack. If SACD flunks out then I will probably end up trying one of the Theta's. The addition of a good DAC (one that I enjoy the sound of) though has been one of the best upgrades that I have done. Regardless of which amp I use in the system (I switch between SS and tubes) it always sounds great.

The level of performance you have now would be surpassed by either decision. BUT the transport you now have will probably not last more than a few years. The idea of a separate DAC seems to be gradually dying out. I would hunt for a used (less than 2 years) CD player.. like a Adcom750 or the Rega Planet. Save the rest of your money.

Terrific help you guys! Question, do your replies mean that the improvements made to CD playback in general over the last few years don't apply quite as much to transports? I.e., do you think a 10 year old transport is still technically sufficient to convey a good-enough quality signal to a new DAC to justify buying a new the DAC for the old transport?

Hope that made sense! Your replies give me great comfort.

I don't think your transport falls into the best can be catagory, but some of the early 90's were the BEST that were ever made. The Phillips and the Sony parts from then were the best ever, current ones are NOT as sturdy, or as carefully made, nor do they use the 'best' parts anymore. (Though the top (only) Sony always have had great optical pickps)
The "best" Sony parts are in the SACD. And Phillips???
The current mid-fi Sony totally suck.