if you had 2500,what player stands out????

if you stick to a brand and model that is known to be reliable, you should be fine.

In my opinion, there is plenty of information on these forums to help you arrive at a conclusion about which players are reliable and which ones aren't. All you got to do is search

I also have Sonic Frontiers preamp (SFL2). I use Mark Levinson 36s DAC and a 37 transport. The sound is great. I would highly recommend them. I am working on 2000 CDs. I don’t think I will ever sell neither my CDs nor my Mark Levinson gear. I thought I would when SACDs first came out. But I soon realized I never would sell all of my CDs and buy in the new format. You can not find it all, it is a hassle and I don’t want to spend the time on it. Some of the CDs have a special place in history for me due to autographs and gifts that can never be replaced. If there are new technologies bring them on. I never sold my record collection either. So I would not limit money for CD technology buy what sounds great with what you have now, enjoy the music.

The Audio Aero Prima would be my first choice in your price range. I own a Capitole MKII, and after over a year, I'm still thrilled with it. I've had the chance to listen to the Prima, and I was really impressed by how much of the Capitole's sound it had at a fraction of the price.