Good "warm" CD player for $500

Spend your $500 on room treatments before you buy anything else -- a few well placed acoustic panels will benefit your bright problem, and your entire system, more then another cdp IMO.

Acoustic panels are prob the most unsexy thing you can buy but the hype is true. I hung some panels in back of the speakers, put small Cathedral panels in the ceiling corners and finally put up some drapes over a window that was right next to a speaker. I did about as much as I could w/o turning my living room into a recording studio. Visually the panels match the walls and are pretty unobtrusive. Sonically the sound is more natural, focused, tame and dimensional. Money well spent.

You'll spend less $$ and reap greater rewards if you are able to treat your room. A cd player isn't going to do what you want if it's brightness you're looking to tame. I would venture to guess that the 'minimalist' setting you have also has a good deal of slap echo and unwanted reverberation. You absolutely have to deal with that.

Outside of that, if your speakers can handle tubes I would try a tubed amp, or maybe a tubed preamp. Either will give you more 'warmth' then a cdp. The Sony Playstation suggestion is also good. The reviews are true about that one, and you can't beat the price if you can live with using a game controller as a remote (though you can pick up a wireless one).