I have a CD-2 unit in for review, and I am in the rare position of having extensive experience with all three Ayon players, most of it in side by side comparisons.
The CD-2 is a vast improvement over the CD-1; no contest. It would be wrong to consider them near equals in terms of performance. They are in completely different leagues.
The long term question will be how the CD-2 compares to the CD-3 (two chassis design). I have not gotten into direct comparisons with the CD-3 yet, but the CD-2 appears to be an assault on best attainable Redbook sound in a single chassis design. I will refrain from drawing any firm conclusions as my time with it has been short, and more will be learned as the review continues (The review may contain idiosyncrasies or caveats if applicable). However, I will say that the player does seem initially to be living up to the expectations I had for it when I heard it briefly at CES.