Considering getting a CD player (again). Used? New? Criteria?

If, like me, you could get lucky and find a used Modwright either Sony, Oppo, Marantz, of Denon, at of near your price, you would have a really great sounding CD that you could use for a long time.  You will have the best chance of finding the Denon, Sony or Opportunity units used.  It will be the equal or better of extremely expensive machines--read that as ones over $3000 or more new.  I got a Modwright Sony 9000 used for $695 and was floored when I heard it.  I've had 2 different models of Modwright Sony since and I still use the MW Sony 5400.  It has a beautiful like analog sound together with very good dynamic ability and clarity.  The MW's have become a little more expensive and desirable on the used market in the past several years so finding one like I did will take some patience.  However, you will have a player that will take a backseat in sound to very few units and none at this price.  Dan Wright, the designer, stands behind his products even if you bought used from someone else.

Bob

I have an Onkyo C-7030. I think it's fine...more than fine considering it was under $200. It has an optical and coax digital out if you want to use a separate DAC. Thought about going for the slightly more $ Marantz machines, but I'm happy with the Onkyo.

If you are looking to only spend around $700.00 then you might want to go with a Rotel RCD-1572.

Arcam CD37 is a great SACD and CD player. When they come up used they are under your price. 

Here are a few CD players that I've owned that were all very good. My system consists of Krell amplification and Thiel CS6 speakers.

Marantz SA8005 - This player does both CDs and SACDs. I bought it used for around $800. It's been well reviewed and sounds very good.

Marantz SA8004 - I owned this before the 8005. It also sounded very good and I believe this model made the Class A designation by Stereophile. I bought the 8005 because it had a few improvements over the 8004 (bigger power supply, etc.) and it was the end of the series. Both models performed flawlessly and Marantz will stock replacement transports for the foreseeable future. It might take some patience to find these models on the used market because they are very desirable.

Emotiva ERC-3 - I had this player along with the Marantz SA8005 because it played HDCDs (I have over 100). I compared the Emotiva on regular CDs with the Marantz and they were so close that I'm not sure I could distinguish the difference in a blind test. These cost only about $350 used but are very desirable and hard to find. Mine sold within a day of putting it on sale. I replaced this player with a vintage Krell KAV CD 250/2 because I collect vintage Krell gear but I miss that Emotiva player.

Denon DVD-3800BDCI - This is a Blu Ray, DVD, and CD player. It sold new for around $2k but now they go for a couple hundred bucks. This is a very well built player. I wouldn't recommend this as your only player but if you want to be able to play Blu Ray audio disks this is a good 2nd player to have.