Are "Redbook Only " CD players Obsolete?

They are a dieing breed. IMO Accuphase DP67 is best red book player on the market.

Dennish,
I'd like to see a list of the redbook only CD players that you have used in your comparison to the Marantz DV 9500. Considering your statement "at any price", I expect the list to be extemely long.

I've got a Levinson 37/360 combo which sounds outstanding.
To prove a format is listenable, it takes only ONE excellent disc. There are many, including XRCD's, Sheffields, Three Blind Mice, etc. The variability in
redbook is more the mastering of the recording than the
format itself. I have no interest in moving to SACD or
DVD-A.

I'd rather listen to redbook through my $1k Audio Refinement than to SACD through the $2k Marantz any day!

I've heard the DV 9500. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Your statement that the Marantz can play redbook CD better than most players at any price is close to indefensible.

At this time, absolutely not. Universal players that play every format are OK for Audiophiles that want an affordable digital front end. However; Audiophiles that have near or state of the art Redbook CD front ends are generally disappointed in the compromises in sound, that have to made in these Universal players. Universal players as seen as some, to expand their choice of formats and software and sort of protect them from the outcome of the format war. This is never the case because the redbook front ends are really now coming into their own, with better software that is competetive to Hi-rez formats. Remember the Cd was suppose to kill off vinyl and vinyl last year sold more than DVD-A and SACD combined. Listen to the music and not the format. IMHO