Help picking a CD player

One thing to consider is what CD drive is each of your chosen manufacturers using. They could all be using the same drive as there are not that many companies who make them now.

 For me Teac/Tascam/Esoteric (same company) make the best drives of all of them. Find one of those if you can in your budget. I know Teac put out a new lower priced CD player/transport recently with the VDRS drive in it, probably the best CD drive series made.  

@pippi 

Keeping with your list, the April Music unit was very well reviewed, and it is a top loader, meaning you won’t experience drawer mechanism issues since there’s no drawer.

Better a good vintage unit than a mediocre new player that will magically lose half of its value when you take it out of the box.

Respectfully, I will recommend change in play back philosophy.  Why spend on a physical media player?  At a $1000.00 price point you can go into an entry level streaming DAC like a Cambridge CXN 100 and set you computer up as a server for ripped files, or you can buy a Bluesound Node 2 streaming DAC together with a Bluesound Vault 2 server/DAC for probably under $1000. Also, pre owned Aurender A 100s are selling at your price point with an onboard high resolution streaming DAC and 1 or 2 TB server storage. I find streaming quality better than CD, and once you become used to the convenience, you will not look back.  For me, physical media is a memory.  I cannot make a recommendation on which has better SQ since I did not do a head to head assessment.  However, I will state I like the Aurender house sound and they have excellent customer support.  If you go Aurender, I recommend you buy preowned/certified from a dealer.  I am just trying to give you food for thought on an alternative approach within your budget.  Good luck.  

You need not spend oodles of money for a good sounding CD player.  As in most things audiophile equipment wise, sound quality depends very much upon the components in the chain.  If you have a good DAC in your amp, integrated amp, a good external DAC, etc., I suggest thinking more in terms of "transport", rather than "player".

By way of example borne from personal experience, I have a Marantz CD6005 that I purchased new for less than 500 bucks over 11 years ago that sounds great with my McIntosh integrated amp.  Several years ago, I A/B'd it against a 3500-dollar Rega CD player, using the same integrated that I have, the same speakers and several of my own CDs that I am very familiar with.  According to my ears and those of a good audiophile friend who was with me at the time, the Marantz sounded every bit as good as the much more expensive Rega in every respect.  More recently, I A/B'd the Marantz in my own 2-channel system at home using its internal DAC against the McIntosh's DA1 internal DAC.  The difference in sound quality or fidelity was so infinitesimally small, if indeed one existed at all, that I elected to use it as a transport rather than switching it back to a player.  My wife actually preferred the sound of the Marantz DAC whereas my ears thought the MAC's DAC offered just a tiny bit more bass extension.  Shortly after these experiences, my audiophile friend purchased a Marantz CD6006.

One last two cents worth of advice.  Prior to purchasing the CD6005, I auditioned it against two NAD CD players, one in its competitive price range and one which was a couple hundred bucks more expensive.  After a matter of seconds, it was clear to my ears that the price point competitor wasn't in the same ballpark, sound fidelity wise.  As for the one that was a couple hundred bucks more, it only took my ears about a minute or so to decide I was bringing the Marantz home with me.  So, again as in all things audiophile, if possible, I would advise that you do some critical listening to the components you are interested in prior to making a decision.

Yes my amp (Micromega M-1 100) has a good DAC. That’s why I am leaning toward the SMSL transport. I like the idea of using a digital storage system, but my wife is kind of stuck on the physical aspect of being able to play a CD, as much as she likes when I play an album on the turntable.