I just remembered a pretty darn good source suggestion. I will start with the funny story:
My audio club had a CD Source shoot out that included some REALLY pricy gear. For S***T's & giggles, I brought my $75 circuit city special DVD player. We did a double blind shoot out (30 people) against 8-10 players and the $75 special came in 2nd.(Cary came in first - I forget the model, but it was the non tube one, retail around $3000 I think - the Cary really is a nice player)
You may want to give this one a shot - believe it or not, it's actually pretty good for CD playback.
I am not sure what you are looking to do but if you are looking for good sound on a budget & like vintage here are a couple of suggestions for some really fine vintage gear. (Disclaimer - everyone has there own oppinions - these are mine based on my ears and experiences)
If you like warm tubey sound there are several vintage Mono blocks to choose from. I really like the sound of Heathkit W5-M's (25W) or Dynaco Mk II or III's (50W -60W. These can be had for around $500 a pair. (may want to upgrade caps and stuff - but just find one that where that has already been done) These WILL provide high quality sound and can be very enjoyable. I have had both along with my more modern VAC tube mono-blocks - different but not better.(IMHO) They have fantastic iron on them and worth checking out.
Here's another neat one, some guys in my Audio Club rave about these. Believe it or not Kenwood made some supposidly very nice high end mono blocks in the late 80's early 90's. I think they were L 07 or LM 07's (not sure on the model #) they go for around $400 a pair and are supposed to be pretty darn good.
For CD - there are TONS of choices - I agree with the above post though regarding the listed equipment. Some suggestions however are: CAL transport with Delta or Sigma dac - can't remember which is the tube one - but go with the tube one. Some of EAD's older stuff is reasonable and supposed to sound great - crappy or zero support from EAD though. You could buy an inexpensive transport and use an MSB Link III to start and then upgrade the DAC later on.
Very nice inexpensive wires are Homegrown audio and they come in Kit form if you want - AWSOME customer service and HONEST guys. I have met them personally and they are great guys. Wires are damn good for the price too.
Most of the other stuff except maybe the Fisher - better off going in a different direction IMHO.
