When CDs first came onto the market in 1982 .......

You're mistaken. 

CDs were mastered with an audio stream turned up to 1.2v (?) whereas all analog recordings (vinyl, tape etc.) had been mastered using an analog audio stream of 0.8v

Is this on the money or am I mistaken ... ??

I remember when they came out. I had strong beginnings of a high end system. I was also in search of detail and slam. I had a AR turntable… considered good at the time, but nothing like a real audiphile table. Serface noise was always notable.

I bought a Nakamichi CD player… somewhere in here. I was really delighted. I got dead quiet background, slam and more details. But there was something missing. I still played a lot of vinyl. But I traveled a lot, so that this replaced my 2 briefcases of cassette tapes I traveled with.

Your impressions at that time depends on your associted equipment and what you were searching for. Most people then did not have $10K in their system like I did. But I was pretty clueless on “natural sound” at that time. I wanted volume and slam.  I got it… but I pursued vinyl and better analog as my primary listening medium… well until my digital end equaled it in sound quality… a couple years ago.

I found that Nakamichi CD player in my storage room last year. I hooked it up for fun… that was a very high end CD player for it’s time. I cringed… unplugged it… took it upstairs and threw it in the garbage. I would never want any music reproduced so badly… tinny, hard, unmusical.

For me it was no clicks, pops or overall record noise from worn records. Sold 90% of my records. Still sad about that.

@ghdprentice - I loved my Nak tape deck and when they came out with a CD player I grabbed whatever cash I had and drove to the nearest dealer. The sales guy said don’t buy it, I was not going to listen to him until he actually compared it to a Rotel. Night and day. I brought the Rotel and had it till it died about 3 years ago. I totally agree with you, the Nak CD player was horrible.

Also had an AR table. But lusted for an Empire.

LOL