Which makes more sense? - CD player vs SACD

SACD is moribund; I would stay with a CD only machine, the level of performance will be higher on CDs.

what are you using as an amplifier for your harbeth speakers?

SACD is definitely not moribund if you like classical, jazz or classick rock. Look at the Esoteric remasters, the Universal Japan SHM-SACD's, and the numerous releases on small labels! Even being pretty well resourced, I cannot afford to buy them all! Unfortunately, if your musical interest lies outside these genres, the pickings are quite slim.

In the $1,000 and under range, I would get either the marantz SA8004 CD/SACD player which just won The Absolute Sound's Digital Source of the Year award. It is clearly a CD/SACD player but also has digital inputs that will allow you to use a music server or PC as a source, which will open up the world of CD-quality and high-resolution downloads as well. Here are some reviews:

http://www.avguide.com/review/marantz-sa8004-sacd-player-tas-211
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue53/sa8004.htm

The other player that is a no-brainer in your price range is the Oppo BDP-95 universal player (CD/SACD/DVD-A/DVD-V/Bluray). It won The Absolute Sound's Budget Product of the Year and Stereophile's Digital Product of the Year awards. It has a USB that will allow you to play downloaded music files off of a USB memory stick but it will not support PC or music servers as a source. There are numerous reviews of the Oppo BDP-95:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/music-round-50-page-2-0
http://enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0611/aa_chapter_139.htm
http://www.avguide.com/review/oppo-bdp-95-blu-rayuniversal-player-tpv-103

Hope this helps and good luck.

uf you buy an sacd player , you will want to buy sacds. that's your chice.

in most cases the redbook layer will sound better played on a cd player.

as to recommendations, i would try to find one having a tube. instead, you could consider using your phillips transport and buy a minimax dac for $600. if you want , you could look for a decent transport for the remainder of your budget, in lieu of the phillips. perhaps, there is some kind of "server" or laptop that you can buy for no more than $400. I am not an expert on servers or laptops. i use the ps audio perfect wave dac with the minimax.