SACD or not

Yep, go for a Marantz.  Built like a tank but play with great finesse.  There are many great sounding SACDs out there that are not symphonic in nature.  Get Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" and Clark Terry's "Portraits".  Those discs will allow you to hear what SACD is capable of.

I just listed a Marantz SA-11S1 on Audiomart.  Had the S2 and sold it awhile back.  Great players and I say that owning 2 Marantz and plenty of other CD players.   

All the great and informative posts.

When it comes to buying used, remember that all these CD/SACD drives may fail after a certain number of hours played. Of course, anything can fail, but drives are a weak spot here.

If thinking of buying used, take a peek at SONY SCD-XA5400ES. It is a bit old and it still holds the price unusually high, but it may be for a reason. I have never compared it to any of the players mentioned in earlier posts, but it is a good one. There is one on US Audio Mart right now for $1100. (I am not affiliated with the seller in any way, just noticed the ad.)

Another vote for Marantz, I own the SA-KI Ruby SACD player for 2 channel and the UD7006 for HT/SACD multi-channel and DVD-Audio, I couldn't be happier.  

If you are interested in classical on SACD, jump right in. If not, do some research before you buy a player.

SACDs are more expensive than cds or hi-res streaming. You’re going to pay at least $20 for each SACD, most are $30 and up, and $50 and up for Japanese and out-of-print SACDs.

Selection is pretty limited. Mofi and AP put out a handful of SACDs a year and often those are delayed for a year to several years after an original release date is set. 

At this point, I recommend paying a few hundred dollars for a streamer and $15 to $20 a month for all the hi-res files you can stream or get a really good CD player and lots of currently very cheap CDs. You’ll have a much greater selection and sound that is as good as or better than SACD in many cases.