Best Sub $500 used CD Player

I've had experience with five under $500 players in the last month or so and been able to A/B them pretty thoroughly in various combinations, the Music Hall CD-25, a Cambridge Audio 300se with upgraded opamps, an AMC CD8b, a Philips 963 DVD/CD player and a Toshiba 3950 DVD/CD player. With that many options and a fairly small price range, it's impossible to say just one was clearly best but here are my observations.

If you've got $500 that you don't need for anything else and are interested only in the best two-channel audio, get the Music Hall. If you want to spend that same money and are willing to give up just a little audio quality for high quality video and the potential for multi-channel audio, get the Philips.

If you want to spend $100 on sound and $400 on something else, and you can live with a little less quality, buy the Toshiba (or a JVC 600 series DVD player.) The two players in between, the Cambridge and AMC, are also very nice for the money, both between $100 and $200 used, sound somewhat better than the inexpensive DVD players and the ergonomics are better.

They all do a good job for what they cost but the Music Hall is the only one that makes me stop when I'm walking through the room and just sit down and listen.

I would think that brands like Rega, Arcam, MMF, Cambridge Audio etc would produce better units (ie. sound and build quality) than any low cost stock dvd player such as the phillips 963 or toshiba players... Moreover, when you buy used you won't have to worry about the value depreciating.. You can turn around and sell it for the same price your bought it for if you are displeased. Therefore I see more value in buying used over new.

If you increased your budget by $100 you could get a used Rega Planet 2000 with new lid assembly (ie. P3) which would put all of the above players to shame...

thanks for all the advice
i used to have the mmf 25 and the old rega planet.
i have to say i was a big fan of the mmf 25
do others feels than the planet 2000 beats the original planet?
i really like the old one and thought that it had an overall smoother presentation than the 2000.
i am leaning towards the mmf

I think that in this price range the used Planet 2000 reigns supreme. Mind you I have one that I'm perfectly happy with. This is just my opinion. Sidenote, I'd suggest using the Nordost Blue Heaven as in IC with this player. They complement each other very well.

In any case, take your time and give them all a try.