Check with www.underwoodhifi.com about a Music Hall or Onix CD player that also do HDCD.

Yes to underwoodhifi

The Azur is a very well regarded player in Europe and if not the best at its price, certainly in the same ballpark.

Cambridge will sometimes suffer from build quality issues with new releases that get corrected in later runs so I would buy new from an authorized dealer.

"Is that even an authorized dealer...?'

You bet Audio Advisor is an authorized dealer, and, if they have what you are looking for, one of the best around in terms of sales and return policies. Over the years, their emphasis has drifted to home theater, to the detriment of their inventory of two-channel equipment, but they're still a fine outfit to do business with.

That is a version1 machine

Try them on the telephone for more details if you need that. To begin with, they offer a 30-day money back guarantee if, for any reason, you're not satisfied with a purchase. After that, manufacturer's warrantees kick in.

I would probably run by the store in Atlanta to check out other options as well. I wonder if they would mind if I tested it out on my headphones and amp? Get a better idea of what sounds good. As long as they are reasonably competitive, I don't mind buying from a store. Usually better service after the sale.

-edit-

this is GLFRANCIS2, I finally remembered to log in before posting

Underwoodhifi is in Roswell for you to also check out. Call Walter off his website for directions and time.

For what it's worth I puchased one on sale ($379) and I love it.

I didn't spend a lot of time demo-ing though so I can't really say it was the "best" player in the price range.

Thanks. I have some Esoteric Audio cables that I have had for years. Musica I think is the name of the model.

Interesting though, the unit did come with an "cheapie" set of cables though the manual said that it would not