Hi robg1976,
First let me say that I do not think you will find any CD player for around £800 that will make much of an improvement sound wise over your Arcam CD73.
I have had an Arcam CD17 and compared it to my older Marantz 63SE and my newer Cambridge Audio 840C. It took some time for me to even hear the differences between them. The differences are not noticeable right away and are more subtle than changing around other components. While I did hear differences I honestly could live with either three CD players. I find that the differences between CD players are often times small. Almost as small as changing speaker cables or interconnects.
In my experience I believe that the largest differences in sound comes from changing speakers or the amplifier. Changing a record player and/or cartridge also makes more of difference than changing CD players do.
I think you would be much better off using that £800 and upgrading your speakers or amplifier first if sound quality is your ultimate goal.
Plus, CD is going bye bye soon. So if you do decide to change your CD player than at least get one that has digital inputs. This way you can use it as an external DAC when everything goes to music files and if you have a music streamer in the near future.
If you can stretch your budget by £200 can I suggest the Marantz SA-8005 SACD player. This would be a worthy upgrade. SACD capability and digital inputs on the back to hook up a future streaming device. You can then listen to high definition 24/192 music files. The build quality of the Marantz is excellent and it is made in Japan. The Marantz has a headphone jack. It also has front and rear USB inputs. Very cool.
From thier website:
"In addition to SACD and CD playback, the SA8005 also features multiple playback options from a range of other digital audio sources, including iPod and iPhone devices, as well as the ability to play back digital audio files from a PC, via the included asynchronous USB-B port." " The front panel USB-A port lets you connect your favorite portable audio device, and is compatible with iPod, iPod touch and iPhone sources. The rear panel USB-B port lets you connect your home PC to play back digital audio files, including high resolution PCM and DSD tracks."
Cheers :cheers: