I posted an earlier message about getting a new AMP or new CD player. Well, the amp is out of the question right now for several reasons. It'll be much better to match an amp when I have the speakers I like. Also, the amp might end up costing more than the price range I specified before. But that is not the major reason.

This is the major reason. I have a Toshiba SD-5700. I've had it for well over 2 years. It plays DVDs, CD-R's perfectly. But, it has problems reading normal CD's. This has been an ongoing problem for a few months, and has gotten worse recently, and has stabilized. Bascially, about 70% of CD's no problem. Then the remainder, I have to insert 2, 3, 4 sometimes 5 times before the player recognizes them, and with 2 of my CD's I just gave up. This is really annoying.

What made my decision is that I heard back from Toshiba service, and since it's out of warranty, it'll cost $90 just for them to look at it plus $20 shipping each way. There's no way I'm paying $130 plus parts and risk UPS damaging it for something I only paid like $215 in the first place.

But it plays DVD's fine, so I just need a CD player. I want a really good unit that will fit well with an entry-level high end system. I would like to keep it around $800 +-$200. I was thinking about the Arcam CD73. What do people think about this CD player? I like that its upgradeable. Any other good ones in the price range? I'm using discrete external inputs on my receiver, so I'd like something with a very good DAC and analog output stage. I want it to sound better than Denon universal players I've heard, which sound a little better than what I have. Given space constraints, I can't use a top loading player.