I use a cdr-880 as a secondary cd player in my main system. It's a bit faster than my scd-1. I noticed the same thing. Sure it has haze & less air/soundstage compared to the $8000 audiomod scd-1 sitting next to it, but overall it's just a 'good' sounding component. It doesn't seem to have the jitter level of most cd players.
A good upgrade would be a bel canto dac 1.0 or 1.1. I use my 'extra' one with the phillips, and it does improve the sound quite a bit. You can pick those up for 500 - 600.
