EAR,
Just stick to a reasonable brand name cdp (Panasonic, Pioneer, Sony, Toshiba, etc.).
Anything between $150 and $400 (Cdn) should nab a decently built unit although you can get cdp pretty cheap from many other sources now (ebay, audiogon). Anything built even within the past ten years will sound identical enough to the point that i doubt you would hear any difference if any. The newer high resolution formats are a different story.
I am assuming here of course that you only want a cdp and not a dvdp or dvda or sacd player. In such case, you will have some other considerations and would need to decide on its features before buying.
