Something I realized rather quickly with CD (and also DVD), is the players are commodities. I have never felt the same personal connection for a disc player the way I always have for my speakers, headphones, receivers, turntables, and phono cartridges. Yes, even phono cartridges.
These are a few of the pickups, as cartridges used to be known, that I remember fondly.
The Pickering V15 came installed on my Garrard 40B turntable, way back in early 1972. Five years later, the Stanton 500 was on the Micro-Trak tonearms of the Russco Cue-Master turntables at the radio station.
The Shure M91ED was purchased to replace the Pickering.
The Audio-Technica AT-13Ea lived on my JVC VL-5 turntable.