Personal CD player evolution


To take a cue from the previous threads 'amp' & 'speaker' personal evolution, I bid you this question...

for me it was a Hitachi small black box circa 1983, bought from a Luskin's discount electronics store (I think I paid around $250), then...

-Yamaha COX-700U (1985 or so, still in use by my father)
-Carver ? model to match a Carver amp I had at the time
-Rega original Planet
-Cary 303/100
-Cary 306/200
128x128pehare
Sony ccx 225
Rega Planet
Rega Planet 2000
Sony 555es 5 disk SA player
Jolida A100
Cairn Fog 24/192
Arcam FMJ CD33
Audio Aero Prima mk ii
Evolution as follows:
Sony ??? model ($250 new in the mid 1990's, and sounded every bit as bad as that description would lead you to believe);
Arcam CD82;
Linn Genki;
Linn Ikemi;
Linn Unidisk 2.1
My very first CD player was a beautiful walnut sided piece by Kyocera circa 1985.
Then went to CAL Delta transport with Alpha DAC, followed by CAL Tempest II. Tried one of the first DAC's by Theta around that time as well.
Moved onto Meridian--500 transport, 563 DAC, 518 processor.
Moved back to one piece operation with Marantz SA-1. Excellent! But then went into a frenzy of auditioning and changing players e.g. Electrocompaniet EMC-1 (still regret selling), Resolution Audio CD-55, Arcam FMJ CD33, Ayre CX7e, Linn Unidisk 2.1.
Also tried a number of other players in a second system: early Rotel and Denon (mid-late 80's), Adcom GCD 750, CAL Icon Mk II, Jolida JD-100, Music Hall Maverick, Musical Fidelity X-Ray v.3, Quad 99 CDP-1, NAD Master Series 05 CD/SACD player, and Linn Majik (incoming).
What I think I'll end up with is the Ayre in my main system, which is balanced, and the Linn Majik in my second system. NAD SACD player will move between the two!