Thank you. right now i'm debating whether to go ahead and get the cambridge audio d500se cd player and the cambridge a500 integrated amp. goodsounds does a great review on them with the m3ti's. I've actually seen a package deal on the net that offers these with the m22's at a real affordable price. it also includes quality interconnects and speaker wire. plus the amp allows for an upgrade to allow phono input.
I'm going to spend some time today searching the net for rega cd player (they look very cool, I may even increase my planned budget from them).
it's so hard. the internet is amazing for research, but not being able to listen first is difficult. especially if your trying to decide whether spending $1500 on a system will make it better than your existing one. thanks for all the input