[El Bishop]

I have an Esoteric AZ-1 integrated amp/dac that I currently feed from my airport express (most of the time). I like the amp and the sound but it can be a teensy bit bright. Can someone recommend a CD player for around $1,000 with a good dac that will pair well with my Esoteric but warm things up just a bit? Or do I really need to consider a different amp?

Thanks

 

[skyline889]

B&Ws like lots of current and warm amplification, they usually don't pair very well with class D amps so that may be the problem. If you're willing to find a new amp, I'd try to go with a class A/AB mosfet solid state, or tube.

If you'd prefer a new source, I would just try to find a nice DAC in that price range as there isn't a whole lot of selection for combo cd player/dacs in the under $1k price range. I know Marantz and Cary have a couple players that have digital inputs but they're in the $2k+ range.