Badwisdom. Your inquiry implies that you are seeking a number of things: 1) 'biggest/widest/grandest soundstage' (extended spatial simulation) and 2) a player that will "really immerse" you in the music (high musicality) as well as 3.) a player that will make you forget the speakers.
I do not think that these goals 1. can all be reached at the same time nor 2. be reached simply with a CD player. Take goals 1. and 2. Using airline-grade resonance damping materials, a 3 cm slate support, spikes, a sand-filled tube table, a voltage generator, an NBS Statement PC, a Shakti stone, and a number of home-made dampeners, I have greatly expanded the soundstage of my Audiomeca Mephisto II transport to levels that are not at all comparable to the unit stock out of the box. Since the distance between instruments is so wide, I find myself constantly ripped out of my immersion in the music by the speed at which musical energy shoots from one area of the soundstage to the other (particularly disturbing in non-natural multitrack recording experiments with instrument separation) and am often reminded of the speaker when an instrument is hard panned to one side of the stereo image. Although I have not tried all of the CD players you are considering, I would recommend that you experiment with power supply, cabling, isolation as a means to achieve some of your goals whatever unit you decide to buy.
I do not think that these goals 1. can all be reached at the same time nor 2. be reached simply with a CD player. Take goals 1. and 2. Using airline-grade resonance damping materials, a 3 cm slate support, spikes, a sand-filled tube table, a voltage generator, an NBS Statement PC, a Shakti stone, and a number of home-made dampeners, I have greatly expanded the soundstage of my Audiomeca Mephisto II transport to levels that are not at all comparable to the unit stock out of the box. Since the distance between instruments is so wide, I find myself constantly ripped out of my immersion in the music by the speed at which musical energy shoots from one area of the soundstage to the other (particularly disturbing in non-natural multitrack recording experiments with instrument separation) and am often reminded of the speaker when an instrument is hard panned to one side of the stereo image. Although I have not tried all of the CD players you are considering, I would recommend that you experiment with power supply, cabling, isolation as a means to achieve some of your goals whatever unit you decide to buy.