I've not heard the other players you mentioned but I do own the 545. I really like it, it has great musicality and energy for the price. CD players have come a long way since my first Adcom. We have a Classe 1.5 player as well that is on the older side now and I have to say that the NAD comes very close to matching that much more expensive player. The Classe is a touch smoother overall, but I haven't been missing it as I listen to the NAD set up in our secondary rig.