I bought my SCD 777es as a dealer demo and paid $1000. It seems like the used price for these should be around that range by now. You did not mention, or I missed it, but are you willing to buy used gear? There should be some real deals for you.
Best CD AND SACD Player under 1000
Folks - looking to get rid of my Sony DVP7000 and get an amazing CD player that will do SACD, too, for under $1k. I have absolutely no need for DVD, as this is a dedicated 2-channel audio system. I'd also like to have an aftermarket modification upgrade path, though not initially.