$2500.00 to spend on int.amp and cd player

How about a Primaluna Prologue 2 integrated amp and a Cary 303/200 or 308T CDP ? This combo can be had today from Audiogon used for <$2000 and these pieces can be easily sold if you don't like them .

The Primaluna can achieve different sounds by rolling a myriad of input and output tubes while being nearly maintance free . I believe the Cary CDP's to be a step or two above the NAD units .

Great advice Saki70.

Rega does a bang up job in the CDP department.

I'd not exclude a Sony SCD XA777es, or even the older SCD 777 2ch unit. The XA is better though, and more flexible.

The new Cambridge units too are worth checking out to meet your $$$ constraints.

...and many choose a cheap DVDP with a DAC like Apogee, Benchmark, or Lavry, as these have jitter lessening circuitry.

You could get the Naim Nait and CD5i. You can get the newest version (italic i)for about $2k right now on A'gon. The Naim Nait gets universal praise for its musical sound.

Cronus is great. If you can get a modded SACD from Sony (either a modwright or Vacuum State) it would be much better than a retail unit at that price. My VSE Level-5 Sony SACD beats up on the Cary units mentioned above, and cost me $1100 here on the 'gon.