Best CD for $1000

HELLO MARK,I cannot say enough good things about the MUSICAL FIDELITY E624 player. TO my ears and friends who have been into this since the early 70's ,this is the closest you will get to vinyl in your price range and beyond.I bought mine new from audio advisor for $850.00 I PREFER RECORDS but this baby plays music right.

Look for a used Meridian 200 transport and if you are looking for a DAC also try to find the Meridian 263 or 563. These models are about 7 to 8 years old. They are bitstream dac's and have an incredibly smooth, yet detailed presentation and non fatiguing. You can't beat the midrange presentation of a bitstream player, the only complaint is they are less dynamic, but should be matched with a dynamic amplifier like yours and it becomes a non-issue. Good luck!

listen to arcam's alpha 9 cd player. you should be able to snag it for about $1,000 used.

Recently a neighbor of mine bought the Denon 370 CD Player. It has the HDCD chip in it,the 20 bit version.While this is not a high end product,it impressed me enough to go out and buy one.Having been in this hobby since 1957 and owned all sorts of various gear in the past 43 years. I have never really embraced the CD format.Prefering to stay with vinyl. Although I did own a first generation machine I never used that much.Now because of this Denon 370 listening to CD again,and not bitching that much. Also at its price and performance point I dont know of anything that comes close. Sounds as good as my friends Rega Planet.