The best CD Player for the money

The girlfriend even thinks the Wadia860 is cool. I am one of the 30+ members of this communtiy. I find that if the girlfriend can't hear the improvement ( women do have a better sense of tonal discrimination) I am probably spending money on stuff that just makes me happy due to brand appeal etc. I do think I have created a monster though, since I thought I was happy with the Rega planet, and she ( and I ) now think the Wadia 860 is the way to go.

In the "affordable" range...my favorites so far have been the Electocompaniet, Meridian 508.24 and the Cary 303. It is possible to find the first 2 used, if you look hard. The Cary is a fave-rave of Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio. He has special pricing on the 303. Next price level down, I think the Arcams are very hard to beat.

Lindemann CD1, but I do not know if they have an American distributor (they are a small, family-run German company). The Rega Planet that has been suggested is an excellent option as well, but the Lindemann CD1 is far better.

I can't believe no one has mentioned either the Ah! Tjoeb '99 or the Njoe Tjoeb 4000, both of which are available from Kevin Deal at www.upscaleaudio.com. Compare the reviews by consumers (like me and you) of either of these units to ANY of the others mentioned in this thread. I've got close to $20k in equipment and the Ah! is possibly my favorite piece. Partly because it only cost me $475 brand new. The 4000, which is less than $600, will be added to my system along with the Ah! shortly.

Well for the money, probably a Onkyo DV501 used... about 80% as good as the real thing and about $200. Now for the music and the money an RA55 used... about $2000 and terrific!