I would be patient and see if an X03 comes up in your budget range. The X03 has the improved mechanism, which is really what distinguishes upper end Esoteric players from any other marque, including those which buy the lower-end transport mechanism to put in their SACD players (I once owned the Playback Designs MPS5, which is an excellent product but not relevant here). Having owned a variety of Esoteric gear, I currently own the UX1 among others and love it for the reasons mentioned here. You don't feel like you were at all shorted on what you spent - the engineering, build quality, feature set are all top drawer. If you were to get an X05 you might start ruminating on an upgrade whereas with an X03(SE), you'd probably be set for a while.
Differences Between Esoteric SACD Players
I cannot find a dealer in my area that has the x-03se and the x-05. I am sure there are people who have compared them. Can you give me some idea if you think the x-03se is worth the extra $6-700 extra over the x-05? Finally, is the SA50 close to the x-05? I like the DAC accessability in that unit as I would like to listen to internet radio, but that is not a major decision point for me. I have a large SACD collection so that is the priority. Thanks for your help.