New cd player

The new Viking CD player just announced by Hegel would be a great option for you.

Reference bit-perfect CD player
New design, matching our P30A and H30A amplifiers Dedicated top-of-the-line CD drive and laser with slot-in loading Auto standby (configurable)
XLR, RCA, and BNC output
SoundEngine, MasterClock, LineDriver, and SynchroDAC

John Darko has a review out there discussing it but officially coming next month. 

Marantz m60  ... not too pricey, excellent reviews, solid build, classy looking... 

and @chayro +1   "don't assume a new player will sound better..."    

I have an old Sony that sounds excellent, as do my old JVC 3-disc players...  Denon makes and made good stuff.  

I had a NAD CD player some years ago that was quite nice. I just checked and you can get a NAD C 568 for $900 from Crutchfield. This is their mid-tier player.

Research on the "Technics SA-C600"  It fts your budget well and has more features that u may love, Its a CD-and-streaming all-in-one player.