I had the same needs. I bought an Arcam Solo Mini, It sounds great, is very easy to use, has a wonderful CD player. One of my favorite features is the various alarm and clock functions. it wakes me up with my favorite FM/npr station.
I tried the Arcam in my main system just for fun to compare it's performance with the ultra expensive stuff. I was amazed at how well it performed as a preamp and as a CD player. Very nice small unit.
Good luck!