Are there very good/audiophile blu-ray players?

Helomech, the Yamaha BD-A1060 sounds like a great piece at that price.

I must note, for CD playback, mine is used purely as a transport and feeds my Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC. I haven't used its internal DAC for quite some time but I recall it being good. It uses one of the Burr Brown chips, which tend to result in good sound IME. 

Originally, I heard some grain when playing CDs routed to my external DACs but it turned out to be a bunk coax cable. Since that was solved I've experienced nothing but stellar sound from the Yamaha/Pro-Ject combo. I've been curios about dedicated transports like those from Audiolab, but it's hard to imagine getting appreciably better CD playback without selling a kidney.

Helomech, the Yamaha BD-A1060 sounds like a great piece at that price. 

The Pioneer replaces a cheapSony Blu Ray that stopped working after a few years, and also a 17 year old Pioneer Elite SACD/DVD player that is connected to an aging Pioneer Elite AVR via an “I-link”
which as a proprietary FireWire connection (this is my basement system.  My main listening system is 2 channel, and the living room system is also AVR based, but a 1 year old Anthem with room correction.  Eventually I will update the AVR in the basement when Anthem updates their HDMI standard).
  It is there’s hard to make a definitive judgement on the quality of the new Pioneer BRP, since I am comparing it to the sound of the deceased Sony BRP (HDMI), and the old Pioneer Elite player player which I have left in the system but which is connected by FireWire.
And finally there is the limitation of the old Pioneer AVR itself.
  All of this is a long winded prelude to comparing players.  The new player compared to the Sony BRP adds some oomph to the midrange and the bass.  The bass is grounded and a definite texture
to low notes that were previously MIA.  .  The main difference compared with the old player connected by FW is that the old player sounded notably congested at Orchestral climaxes and the new player eliminates that and provides headroom.  There may be differences in mid range and treble but less noticeably so.
  I briefly played the unit in my two channel system.  Here the player was matched up against my Bryston DAC3/Oppo 105 combination (the Bryston DAC3 has HDMI inputs that accept DSD from the Oppo).  The Pioneer can’t output the DSD as the Oppo can (or if it can, I couldn’t figure out how), so I can’t say the Pioneer fared particularly well in that comparison, but it was smooth and listenable.
  I don’t know if any of the above is helpful.  The Sony BRP that denied cost about $75 and lasted about 3 years.  It’s predecessor was a similar cheapo Sony that died after about 5 years.  I am hoping that the Pioneer which costs a grand will be more durable.

Thank you for the input so far....good thoughts.  Jim

I use the Yamaha BD-A1060 for CDs and it does an excellent job. In fact, its sound quality is better than its picture quality. It's clear that Yamaha designed it with CD playback in mind because it has a "CD mode" that disables the video circuitry for less interference. Has balanced outputs which is unheard of at its current $350 price. I paid $500 a couple years ago and I feel it's a bargain even at that price.

I have purchased the Pioneer BDP LX50.  Only had it about 2 weeks.  First impressions are positive.