US AudioMart is a popular buy/sell site that many of us use when we dont see what we want on Audiogon. Reverb is another website may be useful.
but you pose a tough question:
A used CD player under $300 is one of the most difficult buys .... ever.
It is b/c one of the first things that go wrong with an economic CD player is the laser and disc drive. I had an Arcam cd player as well, bought it used, and the drive went belly up in a few months.
In other words, most of us would never buy a used cd player under $300. We would buy a DEMO unit from a local AV dealer, or from a trusted friend. But that is it.
I would then recommend a NeW or Demo unit under $300 or a unit priced at $500 but on sale for $300.
my last suggestion: there are some great DVD players, high end, that make great CD Players. But they are old. That is not a problem in this case, b/c these players are built like tanks with reliable disc drives and lasers. Eg. I have a Toshiba DS 9200 that I got for $30 at Goodwill, but they sold for $2000 in 2002. it weighs 30 lbs- like I said- build like a tank. And the CD reader is 24/96 DAC.
then I found another old Sony DVD player, DVD H1000 model, from the same time period, 2005 or so, for $40 at Goodwill. It was priced at $3000 in 2003! all the internals are high end, circuits, and transformer, the DAC is 24/96.
These DVD players are considered obsolete b/c of the advances in Video technology, but the CD DAC section is NOT obsolete.
Although I found these at Goodwill, they are available for $50-400 bucks on eBay.
All that said, of the above choices you mentioned, the NADs have always been the most reliable in their price class.
but you pose a tough question:
A used CD player under $300 is one of the most difficult buys .... ever.
It is b/c one of the first things that go wrong with an economic CD player is the laser and disc drive. I had an Arcam cd player as well, bought it used, and the drive went belly up in a few months.
In other words, most of us would never buy a used cd player under $300. We would buy a DEMO unit from a local AV dealer, or from a trusted friend. But that is it.
I would then recommend a NeW or Demo unit under $300 or a unit priced at $500 but on sale for $300.
my last suggestion: there are some great DVD players, high end, that make great CD Players. But they are old. That is not a problem in this case, b/c these players are built like tanks with reliable disc drives and lasers. Eg. I have a Toshiba DS 9200 that I got for $30 at Goodwill, but they sold for $2000 in 2002. it weighs 30 lbs- like I said- build like a tank. And the CD reader is 24/96 DAC.
then I found another old Sony DVD player, DVD H1000 model, from the same time period, 2005 or so, for $40 at Goodwill. It was priced at $3000 in 2003! all the internals are high end, circuits, and transformer, the DAC is 24/96.
These DVD players are considered obsolete b/c of the advances in Video technology, but the CD DAC section is NOT obsolete.
Although I found these at Goodwill, they are available for $50-400 bucks on eBay.
All that said, of the above choices you mentioned, the NADs have always been the most reliable in their price class.