Which is the best CD-Player up to $ 10k ?

...not having heard all the cdp's in the $10k or less range i would vote for the emm cdsa-se ..if you are at all interested in sacd..the cd playing aspect of the player is probably its' strong point..i own one and it has transformed my cd collection...as one of your genre preferences is 'classical' there are thousands of superb sacd's that truely benefit from the format...

Agree with AMR CD-77. If I remember well, you're in Germany, right? Distributor in that case is Fast Audio (appr. EUR 6.5k)

If you listen to a lot of classical, I suggest you might look into SACD. There are tons of SACDs available on Acoustic Sounds and Music Direct. With the right player, SACD can really be an eye opener, IMO. The problem is, SACD players often don't play CDs as well as the best CD players, which is unacceptable in a top-shelf system. If space permits, you might consider a universal player, such as the Esoteric SA-60(5K) for the SACDs, with a good DAC or dedicated CD player like the Lector ((5K+) for the CDs. Meitner makes a one-box SACD/CD player for about $10K, but I haven't heard it.

I'm very pleased with my Ayre C5xe...but WARNING... It sounds its best run balanced. There is a definite loss when played single ended.

You might also consider Ancient Audio's Lektor Prime. I heard it on a recent trip to Krakov:
http://www.ancient.com.pl/e_lektor_prime.htm