Take a peek under the covers of the latest new cd players at or around thousand bucks, and most look the same. Simple, straightforward, with not much in the way of power supplies. Take a look at sub $500.00. They almost look empty. And yet they work. Keep in mind that players like the Advance PARIS X-CD7 sell in Europe for 400 euros, and are made in China. I think that you can get pretty decent sound from many players at this price point. I must say that some of the latest inexpensive offerings look like computer CD drives dressed up in nicer cabinets. Just check out a Micro Center or whatever computer store in your area, and you'll see similar items for under $150.00, most under a hundred bucks, and not much better than my Dell ripper that sits on my desktop with a VPI Brick on it. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you might find a great used and inexpensive CD player on the cheap, kind of like my Philips /Magnavox player. Has one of the classic ladder DACS(TDA1541) and a beefier power supply than the recent thousand-dollar offerings.
While this player doesn't have the details, depth of the newest affordable stable of machines, it is musical in ways the newer machines are not. But that's my opinion and it won't play back SACD. But for the $100.00 I paid for it with remote all in like new condition, I can't complain. Also, the first player I ever owned, 40 yrs ago, was based on this very same machine, so it was also sort of a nostalgic purchase. I'm biased.
If you can stretch your budget, the Denon DCD-1700NE mentioned here is fantastic. I heard it locally being compared to a Cambridge and a Marantz in the $450-650 range. A less expensive Denon, like a grand less, was also nice.