What's the "worst" cdp for the money?

Perfectionist, I agree, Sorlowski did like the SonyDVP
9000es, I own one, I respect that, but in my book, this
is a very good player,stock.Its modded now by Modwright
the sound is unbelievable.

Perfectionist... I could not agree more with your bashing of the Marantz SA8260! While I am a subscriber to Stereophile, I can't say I take their reviews very seriously, as they regularly rate some Marantz models Class A... what a @#$@#$'ing joke! I auditioned the SA8260 in my system, and my low dollar Jolida JD 100 made the Marantz sound like an AM radio. That being said, my limited experience tells me that there is a significant difference between most $4K players and a $1K player. In my case, I've owned both the Meridian 588 ($4K) and a Jolida JD 100 ($1K with NOS tubes)... the Meridian clearly outclassed the Jolida... but it costs 4 times the price! I sold my high dollar Meridian to upgrade other parts of my system, and am happy with my Jolida for the $650 I paid for it. If I ever have a spare $2K in my britches, I'll probably sell the Jolida and upgrade again... just not to a mass market Marantz touted my S'phile as Class A!

"Linn Genki. Never heard it myself."

I think this statement pretty much sums up the value of the opinion. I've owned a Genki, as well as other CDPs. For the price on the used market it is anything but a POS. I will grant it is laid back, and, if I may be sloppy in my audio shorthand, it has an analog quality. If you like forward presentations and over emphasis on the attack of notes rather than their whole consistency it is not going to please you. But it is very musical to my ear considering the price range.

"IMHO law of diminishing returns kick in much quicker when it comes to cd players, the difference between a $500 cd player and a $5000 cd player is not very big, unlike speakers or turntables. I personally don't see any merit in purchasing a cd player costing more than $2000."

Yes, and NO(!!). I do think there is a greater difference in quality of analog reproduction at this price differential than with digital, but the difference is still huge with digital.