"....Anyone's opinions on the matter here will be just opinions".

Nick, completely agree but people's thoughts do help to progress our own thinking. Plasmatico, for what it's worth, I would not spend money on purely a high end CD transport now. The SB has enough approval via both press reviews and forum participants (as do Sonos and Olive Symphony) to persuade me that it is perfectly good enough as a transport. Where I would consider a high end player is if (1) the DACS in it were significantly better than the preamp/processor I would use with the SB; (2) the player offered SACD or DVD-A and/or DVD-V and those formats were important to me or (3) the build quality and pleasure of use is a significant ownership factor. Also for what it's worth, from when I had a 808 at home to try, 1 and 2 could be true but 3 would not.

Regards,
Steve

Steve