What Sonically is the Difference between a $1,500 CD Player and a $10K-$25K One?

I haven’t reached into the 5 digit range with my CD players, but the difference between my $500 Marantz CD6004 and $3000 Marantz KI Pearl (retail prices) was quite noticeable and worth the difference in the price I paid. I bought them both used, and so the difference was only a few hundred dollars.

I sold the CD6004 recently and set it up in my main system to demo and was struck by how much warmer and detailed the KI Pearl was in comparison to the CD6004. So much so that I hoped the buyer wouldn’t ask to hear the Pearl.

I have a lot more invested in my vinyl setup and the KI Pearl sounds better to my ears with some of the better mastered CD’s I have. The clarity and insight into the music as well as the warmth it conveys make for a very enjoyable listening experience.

I’m sure there are diminishing returns when you get up over $10K, but I have no reason to think that there wouldn’t be a difference in sound quality in comparison to the Pearl, hopefully for the better.

My $5 Sony Walkman CD player outperforms any $10,000 CD player. You just have to know what you’re doing, that’s all. It’s not rocket science. 🚀 🤗

This doesn't make sense. Just because there are examples of components built from high quality parts that are "inaccurate at best" certainly doesn't mean that all components built using high quality result in inaccurate performance. Indeed, the use of high quality parts often does result in improved performance.

I never made the assertion that ALL components built with high quality parts resulted in inaccurate performance,  as you can see clearly in the quote you excerpted from my post and apparently concede with your use of "some". 

Unless you are using the ANALOG outputs of a CD player, where DACs and jitter circuits are involved, the basic CD player is pretty much the same for all players. A motor, laser and some digital electronics. These are about a 100 bucks altogether. Almost all companies who sell $10,000 CD players pretty much buy these components also from the SAME manufacturer. The expense starts showing itself if you use the DAC inside a CD player. Then it can run upwards of 300$ depending on the quality of the DAC design & components.  But if you are using just the digital output, there is virtually no difference.