Need recommendation for a CD player

I second Marantz SA8005, another option Rega Apollo-R.

I tried a Parasound Halo D3 SACD/CD player. Nice piece but I was not impressed with the sound. Returned it.

A good used Sony SCD-XA5400ES is hard to beat and right at your price target. Honest, fast, clean, and dynamic sound, especially outstanding at the frequency extremes. Replacement optical drives are $50 just in case. Improves significantly with $20 worth of Dynamat under the lid and adhesive weights on the transport a la ModWright.

"the Oppo has so many features I wouldn't be using in an audio only system that I ought to get a CD player more focused on just playing CDs. "

this makes sense, except that Oppo is known for having better sound than much more expensive players

new ESS chips are about to be released, and Oppo will have new players out, as will many others; even if you don't buy a new player the release will push prices down on existing payers, so I'd hold off for a few months and use the time to develop a short list to about $2k retail, then see if any used ones will fit your budget

+1 my buddy is waiting on the new 203 /205 or something. He said this mnth 

I've had some high end players & now use a Cambridge CXC transport with a Wyred 4 Sound DAC 1 w/FemtoClock linked with Lifatec cable & it's a giant killer combo.
You could get both used for less than $1k.