"I've read by owners or auditioners in various Audio forum threads seem less impressed by its cd playing ability than the reviewers do."
Maybe some are less impressed Nightfall but at your budget, even used it might be quite difficult to find an all in one unit that is going to really show it up, more preferable maybe. At this level you have to listen in your own system to know for sure. I doubt there will be any epiphany moments at this price point. At least that has been my experience. Used, if you can find one, a modwright Oppo 95 would be a good bet and a quite notable improvement over the stock unit and the 105 as well.
Maybe some are less impressed Nightfall but at your budget, even used it might be quite difficult to find an all in one unit that is going to really show it up, more preferable maybe. At this level you have to listen in your own system to know for sure. I doubt there will be any epiphany moments at this price point. At least that has been my experience. Used, if you can find one, a modwright Oppo 95 would be a good bet and a quite notable improvement over the stock unit and the 105 as well.