Beyond a doubt the best budget CD player (in price only) is the Emotiva ERC-1. www.emotiva.com regularly $399.00 but on sale for the holidays at $319.00.

The unit sounds like a much more expensive player. At the price i can't criticize it. When comparing to much more expensive players the bass lacks a bit of authority, detail is good, sound stage is huge and airy, I guess it could be called "bright" but it's not offensively so, it just lacks tonal richness and warmth of any kind. The ERC-1 walked all over the NAD
c545 in my opinion. The only thing the NAD excelled in is the bass slam. The ERC-1 has good bass detail and the bass is there it just isn't as strong as some players I compared it to. The overall response is balanced though. You won't find anything better for double the ERC's price. Plus it's built like a high end player and gives an aluminum remote that most high end players don't.