Thanks all for the input. Considering the responses here, I think I may have to readjust my projected budget. Seems like $1K isn't going to get it done if I want tube and balanced output. The Morrow Audio fits, but I can't find any reviews or commentary on it. Also had someone recommend a Shanling CD 300/3000 (both players look similar with the round display in the middle of the faceplate). From googling a bit it appears that the balanced output on the Shanling is for the solid state channel only (from a 6 Moons review: "6922 tubes do remain for the CD-3000, albeit below deck vented through perf openings and active only for the RCA outputs. The XLRs offer a transistor flavor for variety")--not sure how I feel about that. Will have to look into the Lector CDP 0.6 as it looks promising and used probably would not be that far out of my price range. A used Raysonic is another possibility. I'd love to be able to afford the BAT VK-D5SE but $2500 for a used unit is more than I can afford at the moment. Have heard wonderful things about the Doge 6--no balanced output but a very reasonable price. It's on my preliminary list.
-Joel
-Joel