DVD player, which to use for a cd transp

Try Marantz DVD. While DV3100 or 4000 ($550 MSRP) have limited sound on its own, they should be OK as a transport for Mid-Fi. The reference series DV18 ($1200 MSRP) has incredible sound by itself using copper shielded HDAM and would be perfect transport for Hi-Fi system. Sure you can go up the price to get better sound, but at that point separate CD and DVD would make more sense.

I also use the Marantz DV18 as a transport, but only for 24/96 discs (I have a Forsell transport, which I like better for regular CDs). It worked fine as a CD transport, except that there were some discs that the Forsell would have no problem with but would skip occasionally on the Marantz. Don't know if this is a generic problem with DVD players vs. CD players.

The Sony DVD-S7700 works great as a CD transport - I use it that way, and many reviewers have glowingly complimented it's CD transport capabilities. It's a darn nice DVD player too.