By the way last October marked the 30th anniversary of the first commercial CD players (starting with the Sony CDP-101).  Well to mark the occasion, my dad acquired and repaired one of each of the three initial form factors.  The Sony was the classic drawer loading CDP.  The Philips was the first top-loader, and Hitachi made one with a vertically loading slot (we used a rebrand by Dual).  While none of them sounded outstanding, they sounded much better than I expected (particularly the CDP-101).  I think as much as early digital harshness was blamed on the gear, our little celebratory session showed that the mastering has come a long way.  I should also note that the CDP-101 had a big honking transformer and bigger heat sinks than a few amps I've owned.  It was definitely not without its flaws, but like I said, much better than I expected.

Yeah, I had the opportunity to live with the SCD-1 for a while during the "lull" of SACD's (they've started to release more SACD's in recent years, but it looked like it was truly dead for a bit there).  Anyway, the build/weight of the thing really impressed me at the time.  It's really a beast.

OK, this thread has pretty much petered out. Thanks again for all the responses. - Jeffrey

I am so proud of myself.  I sold my CDP-8 as I move towards a dedicated music server.  I still wanted a spinner in the rack for those few times I want to play a disc.  I started shopping for cheap used SACD players. 

Wouldn't you know, before long I was looking at players that cost as much or more than the one I just sold!  That wasn't the plan!

Long story long, in a moment of clarity I grabbed a cheap Denon.    

For the little use it will get I'm sure it's going to suit me just fine.

Ship, know the feeling.