Heard the Rega Apollo last weekend. Not in the market myself, but the Apollo is quite a CD player. No negative artifacts (at least as usual from sub $1000 CD players), tremendous jump, musicality, and tone. Sounded very live. Maybe a little short in treble and bass resolution compared to the Ayre CX7 or new Linn Majik ($3500), but a lot of fun. Don't think the minor perceived shortcomings will matter to music lovers.
I've found the cd player for analog lovers
I'm the guy who said on Audiogon, "When is digital going to get the soul of music?". Let me just say that I've found the digital player that rivals or beats analog. No, it is not $40,000. Please read me on my thread! I do believe that there is much variability with cd's. So not all cd's are created equally. The player in question is APL Hi-Fi's Denon 3910. I've found that volume is really critical. Alex voiced his player while comparing it to analog. Let me just tell you that I used to get tense from cd. I'm not saying that all cd's will sound great. For instance, my friend bought a cd from Walmart that was Van Morrison's greatest hits. It was hard to listen to through the digital haze to the music on Alex's $19,000(not your price)cd player.