Budget single disc player-under $600

There is no single "best" new player in your price range. They're all going to have certain strong points and weak points. And, they're all going to sound slightly different, from one another, depending on who you ask. Unless you can demo and compare sound for yourself, you might as well just pick a number from a hat and go with it. Or, compare things like warranty duration, available service facilities, styling, ergonomics of remote, so on and so forth.

I just demoed the NAD C545BEE and Marantz 5003. Both are nice. I thought the NAD sounded fuller and more dynamic. The Marantz seems sturdier, but not as fun to listen to.

I owned the Music Hall cd25.2 and Cambridge 540C (ver. 2). The MH is very nice: super quiet transport, nice build, transparent sound. I liked the sound of the Cambridge 540, too, but at low volume I could hear the disk spinning from across the room.

Haven't heard the NAD 515 or Cambridge 340.

Should have added that my Music Hall wouldn't play a lot of home-burned cds. No problem with the CA, and the NAD and Marantz are supposed to work well, too (but I don't have first-hand experience with them).

NAD still in the lead, huh?

Check out the Yamaha DV-1800. It does SACD & DVD-Audio and can be had on Amazon for $79.99. It listed for $449 back in '07.