Best CD player under 5000

I love my new NAIM Audio CD5. Simple and to the point with a price tag of only $2,250. Read the reviews at audioview.com or in the December 2000 issue of What Hi-Fi? or Hi-Fi News. Beautiful sound.

Can anyone send opinions, comments or recommandations(for
OR against ) CD player CARY 303 for players around
USD 3000?

CARY 303 : VIEWS, OPINIONS INVITED AS CD PLAYER AROUND
USD 3000

I bought the cary 303 after trying the rega planet and rotel 991. The rega was a big dissapointment -- mainly in myself for getting caught up in the hype. The rotel was a pretty nice player esp. at its new list price of $1000 -- non fatiguing . The cary was a little more extended than the rotel at both ends -- and very smooth. If it has a fault it may not be as dynamic as some big dollar players but it is good enough for me. I listen to all types of music and it does a good job with any source.

Hi in the interest of diplomacy may I suggest the Marantz SA-1? It plays CD's as well as any high end dedicated CD player, while SACD performance is superb. You can also try the Sony SCD-1, which is more punchy but less transparent, and also plays both SACD's and CD's. I myself have more than 500 CD's that I have collected over the years, the vast majority of which have not been released in SACD format (it's not just for fun that manufacturers have made all the new format players backward compatible with CD's). SACD and DVD-A recording/playback formats are superior to that of CDs, but a top notch CD player (and I don't consider a Rega Planet a top CD player, unless you scale for value, which is pointless if you are looking for absolute performance at a price point) will sound better than all but the top of the range SACD/DVD-A players.