Wanted: High-quality portable CD player

Hey, I don't have any recommendations but a quick search brought up this thread.  It's pretty old but idk how much things have progressed in the area of manufacturing quality PCDP's.   I'm sure some there are some members here that can help you out in the form of a recommendation.  Good luck.  

ALO sells some NIB Discman D-25s with a replacement battery. Be advised: that battery recharges quite badly inside the player (charges for 20 minutes, then it stops) so you'll need a universal charger. Also that battery lasts for an hour and a half at Volume 2.

Or, you could get yourself one of those less high-end Discmen, with large plastic bodies and 4 AA's as power. They can last for 5 or 6 hours.

I also have a Discman D-33, which is exactly one of those plastic-bodied, quad-AA powered players. Although it says Dual D/A Converter System on the top cover, I only found one DAC chip inside. It still sounds quite fine, but nowhere as smooth as the D-25s (then, well, if you like a more balanced sound, go D-33). I pair the Coppers with D-33 and EW9's with D-25s, as I get quite balanced, but differently flavored sound signatures.

And uh, if you can find a working Discman D-555 for cheap, get that. Although these units can go $300+ on the Bay.

Several old Technics are also considered quite good (XP7, XP5) but you have that inherent rechargeable battery problem. Either the internal pack is too small, or the external pack is long dead and no replacement is being made.

I'm searching for a higher capacity battery for the D-25s. So. Get them old D-20 and D-33, or maybe a D-T model (with a radio) if you just don't want the battery hassle.

Have fun.