Cd Source for my system

I am a Audio Club Member and get the opportunity to experience a range of systems in others homes, as well as a range of ass on devices to be demo'd.

A Club Member Owns the EAR Acute, and as a result I am very very Familiar with the EAR Acute used in their own System and a variety  of other Systems

Additionally. I have heard it in use as a Pre Amp' Bypass using the Models VC, as well as being used as a Standalone DAC.

In certain systems as a Pre Amp (VC) the synergy created has proved it to be the best experienced during the day.

In general this Model is an extremely attractive encounter in use.  

Yes, I considered the marantz cd 30N player and the Esoteric K 03 player. However, I don't know how comparable the sound quality of the two is. I would currently have the option of an Esoteric K 05X amplifier, but it cannot be used as a preamplifier.

https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/2716162

Why would you say a pre-amplifier should not make a difference?  Generally, sources have weak line-level output.  This is not always an issue, but I've always preferred the ability to crank the power amplifier up less in favor of a stro ger input signal.  This works REALLY well with things like multimedia speakers who were never given a fair shot.  If you poke around you'll see the high-dollar units are always paired with high end sources, while low-slung speaker sets get reviewed on on-board sound, which is so unfair.  I've put a DAC and pre-amplifier behind otherwise inexpensive multimedia sets, and the results were very good.

without getting into the seperate- preamp-is-better discussion, i note that the marantz 50N and 30N have an onboard digital preamp and streaming capability and are well within your budget

I am one of those guys that think a pre amp makes a difference even though it shouldn’t.  I use a Cary tubed from about 20 years ago that really opens up the sound stage..

  You could do a lot worse than Esoteric.  Maybe add a streamer in there that offers Bluetooth, AirPlay, and perhaps Chromecast.  Great way to audition music that you don’t have on hard disc

It's also funny because for a long time the reference CD I played was a Marantz CD 74 from the old days and I loved it. however, as the system developed, its limits were reached.

Funny I was also thinking of Marantz player ,I have 2 of them,good choice ,dependable. 

Get a top-of-the-line Marantz universal player. Then you can play SACD's, Blue Ray audio and watch DVD's.