[JimP]

x

 

[doctorjuggles]

I would say that a good DAC should do the trick for you. Another amp will give you a different sound, certainly, but that tends to be defined by taste, it's hard to say if it will be better. I think, though, that a good DAC fed by one of your CDPs (with reasonable jitter specs) will give you the best return for your money considering the rest of your equipment.

It will also allow you to invest in the "PC As Source" idea, either immediately if you have a digital out, or in the future once you can buy a suitable soundcard.

 

[JimP]

x

 

[JimP]

x

 

[rb67]

Seeing as you already have a good source and amp, a DAC between the CDP and amp would probably be your best bet. Whether it will give you that 20%, I'm not sure

 

[Loftprojection]

Which CDP exactly do you have. Even if it's old school, some old CDP have incredible DACs in them and you would waste your money buying a new DAC in the <$1000 range. If your CDP is old AND cheap/low quality, then using it as a transport into a good DAC will also be a waste of money because even though the DAC might improve a bit, the transport is as important as the DAC in my opinion, garbage in the DAC will only produce garbage out of the DAC. Obviously your cans are top notch so there is probably not much to change there for under $1000. If you have to buy a transport and DAC for under $1000 I would personally buy a Squeezebox and combine it with one of the "flavor of the month DAC" like the Paradisea, Citypulse, Zaolu, Dac-ah, etc... Don't forget also that good cables interconnect can make a relatively significant difference if you currently use el-cheapo ones... Have fun, I can see many headaches and hair pulling in your future when you start looking into transport, DACs, IC,... cheers.