Since you are a Cary fan, you should check into their players. They have current models in the $3000 and $5500 range (both very well recieved), and I believe they're supposed to introduce a $1500-ish model any day now. As far as "for the money" goes, you should definitely check into a used model of some sort. You automatically save about 50% that way. People can give you more specific recomendations if you list your price range. You also might want to do a search in the archives, because this sort of question has been asked before (in all price ranges).
P.S. There really is no "best"...everyone prefers different models based on their personal tastes and systems.
P.S. There really is no "best"...everyone prefers different models based on their personal tastes and systems.