Which makes more sense? - CD player vs SACD

In the $1,000 and under range, I would get either the marantz SA8004 CD/SACD player which just won The Absolute Sound's Digital Source of the Year award. It is clearly a CD/SACD player but also has digital inputs that will allow you to use a music server or PC as a source, which will open up the world of CD-quality and high-resolution downloads as well. Here are some reviews:

http://www.avguide.com/review/marantz-sa8004-sacd-player-tas-211
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue53/sa8004.htm

The other player that is a no-brainer in your price range is the Oppo BDP-95 universal player (CD/SACD/DVD-A/DVD-V/Bluray). It won The Absolute Sound's Budget Product of the Year and Stereophile's Digital Product of the Year awards. It has a USB that will allow you to play downloaded music files off of a USB memory stick but it will not support PC or music servers as a source. There are numerous reviews of the Oppo BDP-95:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-50-page-2-0
http://enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0611/aa_chapter_139.htm
http://www.avguide.com/review/oppo-bdp-95-blu-rayuniversal-player-tpv-103

Hope this helps and good luck.

R0817...I think you can't go wrong with either the Marantz (which will allow you to access it as a DAC as I mentioned via digital inputs) or the Oppo (which gives you the ability to spin any silver disc you want incl bluray). For the sub-$1K price point, those are the units to get. Shop around and you should be able to get them in the $800-$900 range new and used should be a little bit better than that. If you buy used, I would use the remainder to buy a lot of silver discs. You can buy used CDs from your local audio store for as little as $1 a disc. Good luck.