best CD player new or used for $1200

Am listening to Mark Knopfler on my Marantz CD6005 as we speak, and it sounds damn good. Just got it 2 days ago ($500) and am super impressed smooth, engaging, and balanced thru my FirstWatt/Quicksilver set up. I'd check it out before putting down more dollars.

Consider the Pioneer Elite BDP-09. This unit has a really nice internal DAC and is hard to beat for less than $1000 used. I have listened to this unit vs many other units and also compared the digital output into an Audio Research DAC 8 vs the CD output directly and it was very close to the digital - DAC 8 sound. I kid you not. It has four internal DACs and really sounds great. many people I know didn't like the slow load time of the blue ray play function. But, I really didn't care that it loaded slightly slower. It beat all the other CD players/BRPs that I compared it to by far. It is seriously over built.

enjoy

Stick with the used Bryston CDP to match your gear
Next alternative: REGA Saturn (better upgrade to the Apollo)

Excluding the Bryston, please go with your ears from an actual personal audition because all you are going to get here is just a heavily biased personal value judgement pushing their own fave with nil assurance that it will actually work in your system.

System synergy matters big time ....