Recommendations for CD Player/DAC Combo

newbee,

"I pulled mine 66 inches out into the room and they are part of an (almost) equilateral triangle with my listening chair at the apex of the triangle (where else)."

The practical problem is that many people cannot pull speakers that much into the room. They do what they can, often not ideal. You are just lucky in that sense.

My highest recommendation would be to get a Audio Alchemy Dac/Pre (both sides are amazing) + a transport. I would order the NuPrime transport from audio Advisor (returnable, but I doubt you would)

for tyan42... Spinner can mean anything that can spin a CD. I use a lot of old full CD players only as a transport, taking the digital out and ignoring the players own decoding. A lot of old CD players have excellent transports and digital output.

any old CD players that you particularly recommend as transports elizabeth ? Thanks

I think any of the 90,s Japanese CD players that had a digital output would do the job if all you want is the transport side.
I know my 2000 Pioneer does sound real sweet as just a transport into my Brooklyn DAC but I stick to analog output from it simply for the SACD usage.
You should be able to pick up a decent Pioneer, Sony, Marantz etc for between $40 to $100 maximum and enjoy years of usage