New CD Player

First, I am the distributor for CEC in the America's.

Since your CD player came on the market, there has been a major change in the design of laser pickups. This made a difference in the performance of CD transports across the board.

The idea that it is all one's and zero's, as a result all cd transports sound the same is not an accurate statement. The error correction used in transports is not all the same. Some transports with exotic error correction will nearly always play music, but is it what was originally recorded. NO and some audiophiles can hear this and don't appreciate it others do.

CEC transports use a belt drive system for the spindle this decreases the noise in the music. If you want to know more see the Audio Union web site.

Can’t refer to anything from your old player, but we are many generations later now in CD player technology. 
 

the Marantz for its price would be a great player if you don’t need SACD. 

$1,000 is likely reasonable. 
 

Cary Audio does upgrades to some of their gear. Maybe your gear qualifies for an upgrade? Perhaps contacting them would be a decent path. Any company that stands by their “obsolete” gear is ok in my book. Sonic Frontiers “The Parts Connexion” is another example of a company that performs such work.

I’ve had a line magnetic LM-24CD for about a year now. I really enjoy it. Tubes output. It is solid as all get out, great effortless expansive sound. May be withe a listen for you.

This is an interesting thread. Now that we have CD quality streamers and music services readily available, it’s tempting not to replace an older player. I currently have a Conrad Johnson DV-2b CD player that works perfectly. I treat it with kid gloves. Unfortunately, it can no longer be serviced or upgraded by CJ. When it dies, I don’t think it would be worth the money to replace the CD drive. It may also be next to impossible to find an individual or parts to replace the drive. On the flip side, I just picked up a Lumin U2 mini. I think CD players are similar to turntables, they will be around for a very long time. There is something special about picking up a CD or vinyl record. Good luck on your quest.