Owned the Ikon MK2, and used to sell the Rega Planet from a retail store. Both good players for their perspective ranges overall. an older Panasonic DVDA310 dvd player floating around out there for around $200, it's absolutely musical, detailed, and more refined for a cheap investment! Also, it's got a volume control for passive set up should you chose!...and it plays DVD's!..and 24/96 DVD music to boot!
Still, for a more probable and practical and sound audiphile investment, if you're looking for "a real piece" or pieces, getting a good deal on a used Theta Basic transport, and one their Progenies or Pro Prime IIa's for few hundred bucks used would be a better sonic investment for CD playback! Then again you could use many transports that might prove "adequate", and spend more on the DAC. But if you want simple, you might find a used one of the above mentioned yes.
Another alternative, is one I hinted at, and you might be supprised! Some of the inexpensive DVD players out there, given they are using much better DAC's than were readily avialable even a few short years back, are very musical and detailed for CD playback! They compete and even surpass alot of the more expensive CD players from a few years ago! Digital keeps improving, while standard 16/44 cd's are still the main thing people listen to by-enlarge. Might be worth a listen before you invest in more expensive, if even outdated digital gear for standard CD listening.
