David, as you yourself said we were looking for an inexpensive player. We are very much aware of medium and high priced CDPs. We were trying to find a player that will fit into Muthu's 6-8K budget.
Cheers
Venkat, first define what you want in a 5-6 K CD player. If you want a CD transport + simple DAC + Power supply + Metal box to hold all this + a Remote then a DVD Player can do this job for much less (about 2-3K). Want even cheaper then a potable CD players are available like Discman.
Now if you want better CD transport, better DAC, better Power supply, better this and better that, you need to increase the budget. And that is what David is saying.
It could be possible to locate some Chinese CDP costing around the target price of 5-6 K but with issues like quality and service support. Did you see the thread 'faulty brand new 640C V2 ? I am sure CA will replace that faulty one with a new one or at least fix it free. What about Chinese stuff then?
People had reported very good sound delivery from SONY PS1 and PS2, I don't know whether a new PS1 is still available in the market but PS2 is there and can be had for 6-7 K.
Based on my experiences and of many on this forum and else where also ; it is now clear like a day light that there is nothing (new) CDP that can be had for 5-6K.
If you still want a 'pukka' CDP and yet wanted to remain within the budget of 5-6K only option left is buying a pre-owned one.
A well made DVDP from Pioneer; Philips or Samsung (here don't go their entry level models but a model one notch up) can not only fits the budget but also delivers good quality sound. To elaborate this, allow me to put forward my own example.
I was using a Pioneer DVDP player (based on recommendations from none other than Mahendra Dave of Cadence!) for almost a year and was quite happy about its performance; I still have that DVDP as a back up in case my main source (CDP) dies. During that phase , I tried several CDPs in the range of 15K to 20K( Marantz 5001, NAD 525, CA 340 etc) ; yes there was some difference (
what we call it as 19/20, ??Unnis Bees ka fark? ) between my Pioneer DVDP and those so-called CDPS but that couldn??t justify the price difference (3.5 K v/s 20K). Real difference I heard only when I brought in CDPs costing 40K and more (Jolida CD100, Arcam CD73, Cyrus CD6 etc) and I finally settled for a
pre -owned Audio Note 3.1X CDP.
Hope this helps.
SUhas