Best CD Player for 800-1500 Used

Second Grannyring's idea.You can't beat it for the money, or a lot more. I'm using a Tosh 3950 with an Ack dAck and when playing CDs it walks all over my $2K Sony XA777ES.

Have to demur on the Conrad Johnson. I had both the transport and the tube dac, cost me about $3600, and was replaced by a Pioneer 414 DVD player at less than $300 which sounded better and was a damn site more reliable. I love CJ electronics, but their digital stuff is a different matter.

If the CJ DV-2B is the single-box unit, no I haven't heard it. My experience with the tubed dac and transport was so miserable that I wouldn't take one as a gift, which I recognize is an unfair assessment. The $3600 transport/dac combo I had was frequently in the shop (luckily I live within a half hour of the CJ plant), and the transport wouldn't recognize CDRs, CDRWs or about 10% of my CDs. And as I said, it was RESOUNDINGLY outperformed by a Pioneer DVD player. AFTER I got rid of it, my audiobuddies all told me how much they disliked it (thanks, guys). Yes, it did sound warm, laid back ... and really veiled.

I now have an Ack dAck 2.0 with the teflon cap option, playing thrugh a slightly modded Toshiba 3950 and it is an outstanding combo, sounding quite a bit better on Redbook discs than my Sony XA777ES SACD/CD player.

I do confess that I loved the LOOK of the CJ combo, enough to stick with it way too long. As the saying goes, YMMV. Dave

Hi, Mmaudio, just a thought. You can put together an Ack dAck and a Toshiba 3950 or 3960 for well under $500 and have a real world-beater of a CD system. The earlier version Ack dAcks (1.0 thru 1.3) are going for $300-400 here on Audiogon. I saw a MODIFIED 3950 here for $150. Sorry, but these will really demolish the CJ, I truly believe. And you can probably get well over $500 for the CJ. In any event, good luck. Dave