Rega or Sony from a "digital dope"

David,

Look for a used CAL Icon MkII!! In your budget and a great sound for the vinyl junkie. Not bass shy at all and very smooth everywhere else. Good Luck.

I second Slingshot's thought on finding a used Cal; I used to have a Cal Audio Tempest II cd player w/one tube and it was the best sounding player I ever owned. wish I had kept it for comparison w/some of the latest upsampling etc. models. anyway, you can occasionally find a used Tempest II on Audiogon. Highly recommended if you can find it.

When Rega originally designed their CD player, they worked with Sony on their own design. They wanted their player to be more "analogue" sounding than the current crop of CD players. They are pretty smooth...not as much bass, or as detailed as some, but definitely musical. They're also very well built (a comment I can't make about any of the Sony products I've ever owned). For $450 or less, I'd definitely consider the Rega...I'd also recommend looking into one of Stan Warren's modded Pioneer DV333's. The player costs about $200, and I think his top mod is $250. The only disadvantage is the long wait.

I bought a used Rega and I enjoy it very much. Prior I ran an Magnavox CD630 into a Meridian 563. I like the Rega better. At the used price you can't go wrong. Pick it up. If you don't like it it will be easy to sell. BTW, the Rega will play CDR's and CDRW's. A nice feature if you need it.

Cambridge D500SE with passive pre-amp. $400 new for the Cambridge.