How do I smooth out violins?

Two points: Telling the op to throw money at the problem is not much for advice!
The idea of finding a great recoding to 'test' is a wonderful idea. I never thought of that.. Then the op can compare: Does this recoding with a consesus of it sounding great, in fact sound great on my setup?
WOW.

The cheapest possible tweak is the ferrite claps on the CD interconnects. (I used to use them all the time.. Now i have finally gotten past that.
Though all my CDs DO sound great...NOW. Gee (I must have messed up per some folks! Not IMO though.)

Jmcgrogan is right about digital and massed strings. I suspect jitter can
have a noticeable effect with sustained high frequencies as is common
with bowed mass strings, particularly violins. Some of he best massed
strings i have heard from cd came from a dcs puccini to vtl pre to vac tube
amp to magico mini. Another was an all mbl rig with a huge soundstage
where everything had lots of room to breathe.

Jmcgrogan is right about digital and massed strings. I suspect jitter can have a noticeable effect with sustained high frequencies as is common with bowed mass strings, particularly violins. Some of he best massed strings i have heard from cd came from a dcs puccini to vtl pre to vac tube amp to magico mini.

Maybe I am showing my age. But, that the idea that massed strings are problematic on many digital recording/playback (I agree with Jmcgrogan) should come as a surprise at all is, to me, the biggest surprise of all. This has been the subject of discussion for as long as digital has been around. Clearly, there are many fine digital recordings, and in some ways analog has as many problems (if of a different kind). But, the OP seems to be familiar with the sound of live strings and is looking for such. Given how common the problem is, it seems to me that the source is a great place to start. I really don't mean to turn this into a digital vs analog issue, but I have heard VERY few digital playback systems playing back mased strings, that allow me to forget that it's digital that I am listening to. Then again, I have heard just as few turntables that let me forget that am listening to a turntable. Is that pc (I don't mean power cord) enough?

Gear has a long way to go still; if the sound of live is the goal. The notion that a $400 CD player is "without fault" seems a little far fetched to me.

IMO

Hi Frogman,
You make a good point,a CD player built to sell for 400.00 retail certainly faces cost restraints.Likely small power supply, wimpy transformer and cheap op-amps and caps needed to meet budget. High quality digital can sound excellent with all types of music.Would it not be in the OP`s best interest to have a reference CD recording(he knows and can trust) to use when auditioning or comparing other players.He can develop a relative hierarchy of of various players sound quality.
Regards,