Old Philips CD as transport or new playe

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.

Seldenr, like you, I've been pondering these things. I like the idea and simplicity of a one box design, but have been intrigued with the spate of glowing reviews for inexpensive (relatively) dacs. I listened to Arcam 9 and Conrad Johnson DF-2. Not enough improvement over my Cambridge CD4se to warrant the expense. I've been listening to a new Assemblage 2.7 Signature dac driven by the Cambridge for a couple of days now (using bnc/bnc cable.) I honestly believe that you'd never find a new cd player for $948 (Assemblage price) that sounds this refined and musical. Excellent value for dollars spent. I figure that I can upgrade to a good used transport if the Cambridge expires and still spend less than a new quality one box player. You'd probably find a similar situation with your player, but a 10 year old unit could go at any time. As to the format quandry Dekay mentions, who knows how this will settle out? I've got hundreds and hundreds of cd's I love and have no intention of replacing in sacd even if the titles become available. I just decided to quit worrying about that issue and buy something that will let me enjoy what's available now.

I use an original Cambridge Audio CD4 (not the SE) as a transport. The best bang for your buck transport is an Aiwa CD Changer that sells at Best Buy for $79.95 - It is recommended by the Chicago Audio Society. It works good out of the box as is, but can also be modified by Stan Warren for around $250 into a giant killer.

Elizabeth, you are absolutely right on about the late 80s, early 90s Sony transports, they were like bankvaults in construction. Sonically,not bad either.There are real world everyday usage issues like access time, reliability and chassis rigidity that are real factors. Please consider these before purchasing. Sony is a company that goes all out to prove a point, untill the marketing dept. steps in and starts cost cutting. Thats why the SACD-1 is most likely to be their best one in that format. As time goes by, its all downhill

Seldener: The DAC would just be the first step in your case and would give immediate gratification. With a DAC however you will have the added expense of a good digital IC as well as a good power cord and isolation components (if you involve yourself with these things). Elizabeth is correct in that DAC's seem to have fallen out of vogue, which means that used prices are even better at this time. Adding a low to mid priced player would certainly improve your source from what it is now, but considering the rest of your system it would just be a compromise. Good used DAC's are available for under $1000. The trick is to figure out which one is to your liking (I personally do not care for many of the $1000-$2000 ones and couldn't care less for most of the one box players in this price range as well - retail price). Yes, your transport could go at any time, but on the other hand it could just as well continue functioning for many more years. When it does go just replace it, if you have not already done so beforehand. Good one box players are available for as little as $1500 on the used market which is another option. I do not intend on replacing existing software with the SACD versions, but would like to take advantage of the format if the software does become readily available, which I am already set up to do (by just replacing the transport). In the meantime I do not feel that I have compomised on sound quality within my budget constraints.