Well, 'sincere' apologies to those who seem to think this sort of question shouldn't be asked - perhaps those of us who are just learning about this stuff should learn to be happy with our lot and just shut our gobs eh!
Anyway, thanks to everyone else who has helped by offering constructive comments, even if they conflict/contradict some of the others
From reading all this and doing a bit of research it seems to me that it's probably sensible to say yes transports will make a difference.
So, given I'm accepting that and want to keep my eyes open for a decently priced (say less than £300, preferably *a lot* less) transport that might give me a better bang than my CD52 II SE would the following be a good starting point (the list is based on transports mentioned in this thread):
- Sony CDP-XB930 QS
- Modded Philips player e.g. CD-940/CD-930 (with CDM9 transport as detailed on the Lampizator website, clunky page that!)
- Meridian 206
- Audiolab 8000 CDM
- Marantz CD6000 KI
- Wadia? (any specific models?)
- Arcam 170
Have I missed any/anything I should add?