The best CD Player for the money

IMO the only player worth the money today is the outstanding Sony XA5400ES Stereophile Class A+

Kinergetics KCD40

I've owned several of the different Kinergetics CD players and for some reason, they all have a very a sound that's really special, but the balance between soft and smooth vs detail and clairty with the KCD40, is just the right sound for me.

Hard to find, but if you can get one for under $400, I think you'll have something very special.

I am going to buy a Meridian used. Which is the smartest purchase, 508.24 or 507.24?

The meridian sound is rather cool and hard vs many other players. Warmth, suppleness and contrast can be had in other comparable players.

Great thread. I just bought a Rega Apollo and am using van der hul ICs to a Cambridge Audio 640R receiver then to Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grand speakers.

But honestly I can't tell the difference between this and my much cheaper new Samsung bluray player with optical out. Both sound dandy. What am I missing here, folks? I was hoping I wouldn't need golden ears to detect this upgrade.

I had a musician friend with big ears over and blind-tested him and he preferred the Samsung.My heart sank. We were listening to new cd of Miles Davis SKETCHES OF SPAIN. Nice full-range recording. We tested two minutes of A, two minutes of B, and so forth and so on.