[BMBROWN911]

Little backstory first. I got into higher end headphone listening about 9 years ago starting with the cheapo Koss headphones everyone here recommends so much moving on from there to the Grado SR60 and finally to the Senn. HD600's. By that point it was clear I needed to start thinking of a higher quality source then what I was using at the time. Some kind of giant Sony combo. cd changer from way long ago. Did some research here and came to the conclusion with a lot of help that the Music Hall CD25 was a good starting point for someone at the stage of the game I was at. After settling on my source I started dabbling in amps from an airhead to a maxed out Dynahi. Along the way trying out several different headphones I think most here would consider Mid Fi. Along the way I've scaled back on the amps finally settling on my current Schitt Lyr and keeping the HD600's while selling off the rest. Each upgrade I've made I've settled with for several years and I'm not the type to spend money on this stuff hastily which leads me to my question. I wonder if before I move up any further along the headphone food chain or amp food chain for that matter, now may be the time to start thinking about upgrading to a better source. I've been using this same CD player for about 8 years and never once did I think about seriously upgrading which is rather silly when I think about it. Some of the purchases I've made over the years probably could of been served better with something better as a source. So here I am wanting to upgrade to better headphones but thinking if I do my source will hold them back. So hoping for some recommendations on what would be a good next step for a source. Budget would be no more then $2000. As far as features go I only really want or need a CD player. If it has the ability to play other higher Def. material that is an added bonus but I want something that will be good with CD's. Hopefully this post is coherent enough for you to all understand where I'm coming from and can respond accordingly. Cheers and thanks for any suggestions.

 

[AuxNuke]

I recently had a chance to audition the newer Oppo BDP-105: http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-105/
The sound was very neutral, detailed, and dynamic to my ears; the player matched or bested all other optical media sources that I have heard.  The feature list is extensive and includes numerous input sources, balanced output, and even a headphone amp! (A respectable 187mW into 32 ohms). Check out the link above for a full list of features, MSRP is around $1199