Before buying anything, I'd suggest you check out the Marantz offerings. I went with the SA11S1 and am delighted, but the less costly offerings are pretty fine too.

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd-pr-12192006.html

I have the above suggested Oppo DV-970HD. It is a universal player and that is why I got it, to play CDs, HDCDs, SACDs and DVD-Audio. At $150 it is not the best by any means, yet it does deliver a music quality that matches my modest system. When I listen to music I don't think about hearing the quality of components, I think about hearing the music. The Oppo DV-970HD probably does the job of units costing 3 to 4 times as much. However, if you are listening to strictly CDs there are better choices for $300 to $800.
Check these out:
Rotel RCD-1072
NAD C542
Marantz CD5001
Arcam DiVA CD73
Cambridge Audio Azur 640C
Onkyo DX-7555