Should I still buy a CD player? Suggest one?


I just read that Best Buy is discontinuing CDs. This seems like a bad omen for CDs in general. I had a system I liked and lost most of it in a fire this summer. Insurance will buy me a replacement, but is it unwise to buy a CD player now? What are high end people doing now for source?

And, my players was a Creek CD-43, CD-53, bought in about 2002. What would be an equivalent quality now? Insurance doesn't care that they are more expensive now, they just want an equal replacement. If I buy a player, which is the most popular good CD player now? It's important that is it a popular one, because I don't want to get saddled with something hard to sell since things are in flux.

Thanks.


river251
@river251 

The Zen Mini already comes with a built-in high-resolution 24bit/192KHz Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). 
Several mentions of Oppo, Bluesound and Cambridge which I have all three. What I can say is my Cambridge 851C is better, more refined than my stock Oppo UDP 205 but the 205 is still a great player. Today I prefer using my Bluesound Vault II through the DAC in my Cambridge 851C and since the purchase of my Vault in over a year I haven’t bought a CD as I am more than pleased streaming with Tidal. Not sure I’d spend a lot of money on a stand alone CDP but pick up a Bluesound Vault or Node and look into an outboard DAC from Schiit, Denafrips and MHDT just to name a few. The DAC inside the Bluesound streamers are decent and probably will get one by, but they’re not great but decent for the price; partner with a better DAC and forget about buying CDs for good.
The Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 Digital is a great value at $400. The DAC functionality is very good sounding, it can function as a preamp and has a good headphone output. It works at almost any available resolution and got an EISA Best Product Award. I use one in my office system and can recommend it highly.

https://darko.audio/2018/03/pro-jects-densely-packed-s2-digital/

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/pro-ject-pre-box-s2-digital-dacpreamplifier/?page=3

https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/pre-box-s2-digital/
What year is this? We have lived in California and Arizona, in close proximity to Best Buy, and I was told years ago that BB was discontinuing CDs. It’s a matter of saturation. Are there really any CDs that you want that you haven’t bought already? Of course not! Unfortunately, the same may happen to vinyl in Barnes and Noble. I was in last week and they are selling tons (yes, tons) of popular titles of vinyl for "50% OFF". Check it out.