Looking for a CD / SACD player. Also, tell me about Esoteric

good point about repairs, I bought a belt kit and

this being available helped me decide

Complete xa5400es Laser Assembly

Knowing you could buy another used one if it breaks, still hard to beat it's sound, and a few around $1k each add up to far less than your budget. 

I bought a spare remote control when 1 popped up with low price.

@stereo5 

+1 correct, Oppo and Magnestar are not in the same league.

Esoteric  SACD and CD players our very good one box units. Even if you find a better DAC you can still use the Esoteric player as a transport. To get a better DAC you will have to spend some money. Not that Esoteric is cheap.

Please correct me if I’m wrong- no more Oppo, no more Sony, etc as to getting a more or less cheap transport and using a nice D/A converter?

That is what I do. I get DSD and PCM out of my Oppo ($200) and into my DACs. I have tested with Benchmark DAC3B and the Schitt Yggi+ OG and LIM.

Amazon.com: GeerFab Audio - D.BOB Digital Breakout Box : Electronics

They sell this unit at very high-end audio shops like Upscale Audio.in LA.

I wrote about this in other threads.

Regarding Esoteric's packaging, current models are shipped double boxed in extremely strong cardboard boxes. However, they are heavy machines and ultimately, if shippers want to destroy something, they will.