Sub-$600 CDP For Transport and Some Player Duty?

Thanks for all the recommendations. I got a nice deal on a CA 740c, so I am going to give that a try to see what I think.

Would you mind using a DVD player as a CD Transport? Do you mind if the product is used? I say go for a lightly used Pioneer Elite DV09. I believe ones in good condition can be had for way under $600. They are built like tanks and sounded good to my ears.

I owned the Rega Apollo for about 2 years and loved it. It stayed until it was replaced my their new DAC.

That being said, I wouldn't describe it as detailed or detail oriented. It eschews the last degree of detail and a few other hifi traits for rhythmic drive and overall toe-tappingness.

They can be a bit buggy in their software. They have a tendency to freeze up and stop taking commands if you get a little squirrelly with the remote. The music never stops playing during this, but that's part of the problem.

I love the Apollo, but I'm not too sure it's truly what you're looking for.
It's pretty good as s transport due to it's analyzing/disc optimizing scheme. I haven't used a ton of transports, so I'll defer to others.

Any Sony ES CD or DVD player.

I had an X-Ray v3 and it started skipping within a year of purchase. Turned out it was an issue with the laser assembly and an extremely expensive fix. Don't know if it was just that unit but caveat emptor...

Rotel RCD-1072 -- a reliable and very good-sounding player, also fine as a transport. Much more user-friendly than the Apollo. I own one, and recommend it highly.