Is this the END of DAYS for the high end CD player

THAT is what everyone said about LP playback. And so now one can buy turntables by the score anywhere from $300 to $180,000. With lots of them in the $3,000 to $20,000. range. So I really think, (for awhile) the outlook for CD playback may seem gloomy, but it will not die either. Way too many CDs out there. The machines may all become universal disc, playing Cd to SACD DVD DVDA to BluRay.. but they will still be made for a long time.
Also, after the 'fun' of rripping stuff dies down, and the crashes of drives or forgetting to have backups, or (my favorite) when you buy a new computer, and discover NONE of the $20,000. worth of high-rez will transfer...Pissed yet?) A bunch of folks are gonna WANT those shiny discs as the CD's do not need big brother's permission to access. (yes, even on what YOU think is your own computer)

Best Buy does not sell a lot of CDs. They have a really POOR selection anyway!!! (IMO they suck on picking what they have available for sale in thier stores in music. And same thing for DVDs.)
I would think nearly anyone buying CDs (new) are buying them on Amazon, or some other web-retailer.

The Record companies want to go to a pay per play.
When the' cloud' computing is the norm, and everyones info is controlled by someone else... Then pay per play will become a reality. It will be illegal to play a song without the fee (Congress passes this law in 2023. At the behest of the record labels and the RIAA)
Owning prerecorded music is also outlawed. 13,070 audiophiles are jailed a total of 1,890,000 years for breaking the law, and are fined a total of $900,000,000,770,000,000,000,000,000,000,00.oo by the RIAA. Lawyers have a field day.
I flee to Switzerland with my LP and CD collection. Along with thousands of other audiophiles.
(8^Q...