Budget CDP: Cambridge 640c, Marantz CD5003, what?

NAD also has two sub-$500 models that are well-reviewed. Anyone have experience with them?

Drubin,

I used to own the NAD C542 and it was to my ears, a warm, musical type of player. And it also did good in the PRAT dept. The only thing I didn't care about the player is occasionally I would put a disc in the drawer and it wouldn't play and wouldn't eject the disc. Which meant I had to take the player out of my system, and take the top off the unit to retrive the disc, and then tinker around with drawer mechanism till it started operating properly again. Now granted this only happen a couple or three times in the year that the player was in my system, but still.... (note: the unit was a refurbished unit). NAD are good sounding players especially for the price, but they do have a reputation of having occasional mechanical problems.

Drubin,

The best player that I had, and one that I think your friend would enjoy, especially with a little "tube rolling" to get the sonic qualities he wants is the Jolida JD-100. You can generally find an "unmodded" version on the Audiogon sale pages in the $500 range. To tell the truth, once I straighten out a few financial issues, chances are I'll get another one. Very enjoyable player and many great reviews (and deservely so).

Bob have you ever listened to its analog outputs?