The Sony XA-5400ES is pretty tough to beat in the sub $2k price range. I love mine.
As with anything, whether you can hear a difference (and whether it's "worth it") with a pricier player depends on how good the rest of your system is, associated components, the kind of music you listen to, what qualities you're looking for, etc. Let's face it, a crap redbook CD is still going to be crap on a $40k player, though maybe a bit more tolerable.
There's no one right choice. Plenty of debate about what's "best" on this on other forums and numerous good choices. Buy a couple of used players with different sonic signatures to test drive for a couple of months and then you'll know what direction to take.
As pleased as I am with the Sony, it's a temporary stop on the way to a computer-based audio system with DAC (the 5400 can't be used as DAC). This is clearly the way the industry's going. Maybe now's the time for you to consider this?
As with anything, whether you can hear a difference (and whether it's "worth it") with a pricier player depends on how good the rest of your system is, associated components, the kind of music you listen to, what qualities you're looking for, etc. Let's face it, a crap redbook CD is still going to be crap on a $40k player, though maybe a bit more tolerable.
There's no one right choice. Plenty of debate about what's "best" on this on other forums and numerous good choices. Buy a couple of used players with different sonic signatures to test drive for a couple of months and then you'll know what direction to take.
As pleased as I am with the Sony, it's a temporary stop on the way to a computer-based audio system with DAC (the 5400 can't be used as DAC). This is clearly the way the industry's going. Maybe now's the time for you to consider this?