I do have a recommendation for you, and it's a product I own so I can vouch for it personally. It's the $399 Onix CD-5. I own the previous version, the XCD-88. The CD-5 is built for AV123's Onix line of electronics by Shanling, which means it's built by an OEM manufacturer with state-of-the-art quality control, and not in some back room in Hong Kong. This player is not equal to $1K players, and especially not the SACD-1000, but it does sound very good considering the price, and it's built like a tank.

Its build quality also makes it a good transport, and it has coaxial and optical digital outputs, so when you receive your next executive bonus (e.g. your wife lets you spend a few more dollars on audio junk) you can upgrade it significantly by adding a Lite Audio DAC-60, a Paradesia, or any of the other high quality budget priced dacs that are popular these days.

I've read good things about some other players in the $400 and below price range, but I'm not personally familiar with them. Also, if you want to replace the SACD-1000 with another SACD player I can't offer any advice because I no longer own one. When the SACD-1000 died I didn't have many SACD's so I decided not to reinvest in a format that's on its way out.

• Onix CD-5