best cd player to get??

Music Direct is blowing out the older model Rega Apollo for $700 with free shipping. The new Apollo is $1100. Considering your budget, I'm not sure you will really get any more performance until you reach the $3K range. Also, remember you're getting a brand new players with warranty, which is a nice thing if something goes wrong.

actually i'm not too familiar with DAC's.....does it basically just turn your cd player into a line out, and then the dac does all the beautification to the music??

if so that does sound interesting.

Tascam CD-200 (excellent transport) @ $250 plus a killer DAC @ $1000 (options a-plenty at this price point) and you still have $250 left for new music. Giddyup.

Yes, a dac takes the signal from your cd player (or computer) and improves the digital to analog conversion if the dac is better than the one in the cd player. The cd player must have digital inputs to be used as a dac. A standalone dac does of course have digital inputs but doesn't play cd's if it doesn't have a transport. Many mentioned DO not have digital inputs as the Marantz does. it doesn't matter if you don't want them.

When someone says a cd player or dac of the same or close to same price range slaughters others you should take that with a grain of salt. My experience is there is a difference but not that great of similar priced players. It comes down to the options available that you want and personal preference. A basic guide $1K better than $3-5 hundred, $2K somewhat better than that. $3K and up, usually another level of enhancement and then smaller improvement as you increase in price. Once you reach a certain price (over $5K)you are paying more for build quality and looks than sound improvement. IMO