You're right that the universal disc player is becoming a dying breed. One current option is the McIntosh MVP-901, although I'm not sure if it does HDCD.
Current Universal Players
Hey folks- Does anyone know if there are any high end universal players being made anymore (i.e. EMM Labs, DCS, Esoteric, etc. etc)? I know it's no longer in vogue but I would like to be able to play cd's, sacd's, dvd-a's and hdcd's. I'm sure that's asking a lot but there it is. I've seen players that are 15-18 years old but I would like something a little bit newer. Any thoughts? Thanks.