Best sounding CD player for 6,000.

I second the Ikemi, which is considerably less than 6k, especially if you can find one used. It has a great sound and excellent build quality. The Metronome also sounds very nice.

The Sony SCD-1 is killer. A friend has it and I borrowed it for while and never wanted to give it back! Just amazing (for a Sony?) and you get Sacd as a bonus (I just listened to redbook). Arthur

Meridian 588 is pretty good. Can be a little bright on somespeakers but should be good with M-L's.

I must confess I have not heard many of the new players, because of my location but I would give high marks to the audiomeca mephisto II. It sounds glorious (I realize not a very accurate description) and if appearance is any issue it is easily one of the most beautiful. If you have any questions drop me a line

Gary

I have not heard all of the aforementioned players but the best i've heard is the Electrocompanient EMC-1. The Sony SCD-1 with the ModWright "Absolute Truth" modifications is worth checking out too. With one of Modwright's "Direct Mod" options you can plug the SCD-1 directly into your amp. www.modwright.com