Need help on a CD player

@kiteflyer45

preface, other than being an occassional customer of Music Direct I have no other "afflilation"

Don't know if you'd be interested but MusicDirect has the Marantz CD6006 - factory refurbished - in stock https://www.musicdirect.com/disc-player/Marantz-CD6006-CD-Player-B-STOCK

They also have the Rega Apollo in stock which is a little bit above your top end for price https://www.musicdirect.com/disc-player/Rega-Apollo-2017-CD-Player

the CD6006 is terrific for the money...for $1000 I would (and did) get a used Cambridge CXC and a Denafrips Ares ll. Your Node will sound a lot better too...

There’s a Cambridge 851C on here and pretty sure seller is motivated to sale as its listed elsewhere. I have a 851C and an Oppo UDP 205 and the Cambridge is better. I use my 851C as a DAC as well for my Bluesound Vault 2 which it’s DAC is substantially better than the DAC in the Vault. The 851C is damn good.

As far as the Marantz CD6006, it’s not as refined as the Cambridge; it’s a good player but it is not up to the task (yes I’ve listened to one) and the 851C has digital in w/various inputs, single and balanced out and can be used as preamp out with your digital sources. The CD6006, besides sound quality, can’t compete.

You didn’t mention if you wish to continue to use the current DAC.  You also didn’t mention if SACD and Blu Ray are important.

if you want a Universal Player look at Sony, Pioneer, and Yamaha.
if CD only, decide if you like your current DAC, and go with a dedicated transport.

Hi kiteflyer45

I've had both of these cd players in my system within the last year or so because I needed a "temporary" something to use as I was having a dac built in the UK.  I've had a chance to listen to them both in a system I'm very familiar with. For under $1000.00 they both sounded very nice.

The Marantz CD6006 is a very good well rounded cd player that performed better than I expected. I was surprised that they were able to give you so much sound quality for under $500.00, the technology has really come a long way.

The other player that surprised me was the Rotel model CD14, it's strength was it's bottom end was very solid. They also make a $1000.00 cd player that I would like to listen to. 

I don't know what your budget is but I can tell you that I was shocked at the sound quality from the Yamaha CDS2100 I owned for about 2 years. It was way better than I expected. Yamaha definitely knows what they're doing. They make their own transports (which seems to be the weak point of a lot of these cd players over time) they're drawer mechanism is very smooth and quiet when you open it, it's also metal, not plastic which I really liked. Another benefit of the Yamaha player is it also plays sacd's. The tonal color and timbre of this player was absolutely gorgeous. The player is built like a tank and weighs about 34 lbs. The retail is $3000.00 but you can find them for less. Message me and I'll let you know the whole story. 
Good luck with whatever you choose.

Scot