The CD players I auditioned a year ago were the Rotel RCD 972, the various Arcams, the Rega Planet 2000. All of these were higher end type players, costing under $1000. Of those, I thought the Rotel sounded best, although they all sounded better than my DVD player. I didn't buy one though, as I had a hard time buying an old format player. I've seen them occasionally on Audiogon and would recommend looking there instead of buying new, for the reason cited above.

One thing I did find though. When I hook my very old portable to my cheap kit build tube pre-amp, I get better sound than anything I ever heard in my house. A wide, deep, 3D soundstage, with the "digital edge" removed.