"Why CD players so expensive when the format is dead"
I think the question kind of answers itself. When things get near death, the price goes way up. U can still buy a cassette deck too, for some reason? If the op has been paying attention, red-book players have been off the market for about 4 years. (Im not talking about DVD players that do everthing.)The only CD redbook only players that remain are the high end models.
