had plenty of cambridge cd2 and 3...killer machines sound wise,iffy displays and build on the cd 2 for sure but saying that the first one i had lasted 15 yrs before the display gave up....my sony top of the range sacd1 lasted 13months before the laser packed up and had a hell of a fight with sony to get it repaired for free because it was out of warrenty!!
think you really need a high resolution system to really hear this old stuff at its best and to judge,i still rate the old cambridges,lack detail by todays standards and a slight tubbiness to the bass for sure,but that can be a big help with some of this modern stuff that passes as good new hifi.
alot of this applies to plenty of other classics,and never forget those old cd mechs make killer transports if they have a digital output,even if they dont its not usually rocket science to tap or add one.
its just back to the laser and mech gubins at the end of the day that is the make or break aspect to these things if they cant be sourced.
ive had plenty of different cd players from day one when introduced,and theres been a very small amount that i would call sterile/hard or cold,alot less then the cd medium they played at the time...some of those early cds really sucked
and then theres tweaking and modding...that can really turn some players around sound wise!!
just saying.....