CD Players Getting Better?

I think that first you need to look at is your present player and judge what it is that your not achieving in sound quality ,eg is it to laid back in the top end , not enough bass or both, or an overall lacking sound stage and when you have got this in perspective look for a different player not just a brand new model , many older models are very compitent preformers even going back to the late 80s eg MARANTZ CD94, STAX QUATTRO 2,also it is a matter of taste some of the older models have a style and build quality that just makes you fall in love when you set eyes on them ,to be perfecely honest many audiophiles claim that redbook cd has come a long way in the last 5 years which is true but if you pick and choose and listen to a good range of older cd players you will find that the improvements in sound are few and far between.

as for cds getting better it is a hit and miss depending on the original master tapes eg the original BROTHERS IN ARMS - DIRE STRAITS original released cd has a better sound than the re-mastered cd , eg RIDE ACROSS THE RIVER does not have a drop out as it does in the re-mastered cd,
Thats progress?

If you spend $1500 on a 5+ yr old player first make sure the manufacturer is still in business and then check with them to make sure the laser/transport can still be repaired.
If both answers are yes then I'd go with the older player. Power supply and analogue output stages have more bearing than the DAC chipset in my experience, and the older player should be better in both of those regards.

Sorry, I beg to differ with Seandtaylor. The newest 24 bit chip sets, as well as the newest upsampling decoders are light years above the older ones. While the power supplies and analogue output stages are also critical, there have been no major advances in these areas in some time. You should demand both!

My problem, after extended listening to a player with the new chips, is that the sound of SACD is still better, granted that selection is still an issue, but no more so than it was with CDs in their first few years.