Thus if you happen to have a collection of CDs and nothing to play it on you’re looking at either a good sounding CD player from $500 to $600 or a poor sounding Blu-ray or DVD player at $100. If you take the sound quality route console yourself with the knowledge that a $1000 CD player in 2018 sounds lots better than a $1000 CD player did in 1998. And way better than the vast bulk of DVD players.

Which brings us to the second point: You won’t find these things at the local discounter. I tried three big electrical chains. The first had one model only, a Denon at $649 (“We sell about 20 a year”), another didn’t stock them at all and at the third, where the salesman judged me to be dumb as mud, I was told that: “CD players are now called DVD players.”

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You’ll need a specialist hi-fi shop where they’ll commit unpardonable sins like demonstrating how much better music sounds when the equipment is nicely matched, and it becomes dangerously easy to spend more than you intend. Example: you’ll need good amplification and speakers, or at least good headphones. Unless the family has taken a vow of silence, you'll also need a quiet corner.

Look and there’s plenty happening with CD players. Pioneer’s $599 PD30AE has just won a 2018 Sound and Image award while sales of last year’s winner, the Marantz CD5005 also at $599, are brisk. However Ralph Grundl, who imports Marantz and Denon, says the biggest sales increase is with the $1060 Marantz CD6006. Rotel has a new entry-level model at $599, the CD11, and the bargain is NAD’s C516BEE at $479. Yamaha’s range starts with the $529 CDS300and Denon’s DCD520AE is in the same territory. Cambridge Audio’s offerings start with the $499 CD10.

From there the sky is the limit. Many premium CD players also play super audio CDs and Grundl says lots of audiophiles are buying SACDs online.

If you’re serious about listening to CDs you’ll also include a generous supply of big Barossa reds in your budget. Hunters are also acceptable.

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