The best CD Player for the money

The Onix XCD 88 is identical to the Music Hall CD 25 internally. Face plate is different from Music Hall. Other than that same unit and at far less cost than the Music Hall by about half the cost. This is one superior player for the money and can readily be upgraded for additional performance. However in its stock form, it is very difficult to fault this player and in my opinion, doesn't get much better till one passes the $1,000.00 mark. Also has the HDCD chip in it,very nice touch there. Have been most impressed with mine in its stock form and see little need to move further up at this time. Superb sonics, way above average build quality and at $299.95 new with 3 year warranty it is truly a no brainer to choose the Onix XCD 88 CD Player. This replaced my Arcam CD 73,Denon 1560, and eventually my Classe CDP.5. I am impressed beyond my most jaded expectations. Spend more if you like, but for a redbook player this is one of audios great present day bargains.

Wadia 830-less expensive than its siblings, great open sound, everything clear, good bass.

Take a look at the Wadia 830, Theta Miles, Naim 3.5 with flatcap -- all great from the late 90's, all can be had with the exception of the wadia for less than 1k, used.

I love my Meridian G08 for the money. It really depends on how much you can spend. If your budget is 4k I recommend the Meridian. Ultimately, you should go listen for yourself and see if you like it compared to other players.

Another consideration is HDCD. For me it wasn't an issue since I bought a Denon DVD-5910 to do my SACD, DVD-A, HDAD, and HDCD decoding. So I bought a machine from a company that put that much more effort into producing a CD player that is dedicated to one thing only, normal CDs...

Oh, if you are good with bartering you should be able to get at least a 12% discount as well. I didn't pay 4k which is the MSRP, I got it at 12% less.