Help me replace my Rotel 1072


The Rotel RCD-1072 has served me very well, and I love its warm, rich sound, but I'm thinking of upgrading.

I'd like to buy a CD player that: a) also has a warm, natural, "analog-like" sound; b) has a little more resolution than the Rotel; and c) is very reliable. If it does SACD or is a universal player, I wouldn't mind, but those aren't priorities.

Here's the trick: I'd like to stick close to $500 used; I'd prefer to buy a single-box player to adding a DAC; and I'm not interested in going the computer/DAC route. I just don't like computers enough to want one in my stereo.

The usual suspects seem to be Marantz SA8004 (reliable?), Rega Apollo-R (again, reliable?, and Oppo 95 (too lean-sounding?). The Sony XA5400ES sounds like it would be perfect for me, but it would be a stretch. Good, affordable CD players are getting thin on the ground with the rise of computer audio... Do I have other options?

Thanks!

Other equipment: Vandersteen 1Ci, NAD C372, Sennheiser HD580, Blue Jeans cables.
ablang
The RCD-1072 is one of my favorite CD players of all time. I say keep it until you can spend the money it would take to better it. Probably over $1K at least.
I agree with Mofimadness 100%. I had one myself. Its the best low cost CD player I've ever heard. Don't get rid of it until you find something that you definitely like more. I replaced mine with an Arcam 33. The Arcam is a little better. You may want to look at one for yourself.
I also loved mine, but replaced it with a Squeezebox Touch. After owning both for over a year, I realized the Rotel was not being used...so I sold it. The 1072 is good value indeed. I paid $700 several years ago, and replaced it with the $250 SBT...I guess that's even better value!

If you don't want a solution along those lines, I say keep the Rotel and save until you can spend something like the $1k Mofimadness suggested.

My two cents!