Dedicated cdps that excel in vertical soundstaging

I never experienced a realistic soundstage until I added tubes into the system. A tubed CD player and tubed preamp does the trick. A tubed amp adds a touch more if you want to go "full tube". My experience is that any of the modified tube CD players will present a more 3D soundstage versus their solid state counterparts.

Warrenh, I define realistic exactly as you have described it...listening to a
recording of an acoustic performance and being able to close one's eyes
and visualize the musicians placement on stage. Tubes have enabled
me to do this better than solid state.

I don't really care, Warren, if my visualization is accurate. If it sounds
real. If I what I hear sparks my imagination and creates the illusion of a
live performance, then I'm happy. During the days of drama on radio,
did "radiophiles" strive to recapture the environment of the
broadcast studio, or did folks prefer instead to use their imaginations to
visualize the settings and characters in the story? It was the latter. Why
do audiophiles get so wrapped up in the accuracy of recreating the
recording "moment"? It's nonsense unless we're discussing a
live performance recorded with two mics and no processing. And what
does this have to do with tubes versus solid state? I'll rephrase my
comments...tubes in my electronics, including my CD player, allow a
certain magic in the reproduction of the music that sparks my
imagination and allows me to "see" (in my dark room with
my eyes closed) a performance and the performers in a way that solid
state electronics do not.

Warren, if you are suggesting that I require a reference, such as owning
a recording made during a performance at Carnegie Hall that I also
happened to attend, then no, I do not have a soundstage reference. But,
I do have a pretty good imagination.