Regarding prev discussion "Does your CD player not play all the way to the end of the cd?

OK, I get it now. I think what you need to look for is not a standalone transport, but you need to research who uses the best transport mechanism in their unit. That is the tray and slide mechanism.
Most manufacturers have used Philips or Sony transport units in their CDPs and transport decks. I am not versed in the parts and manufacture of components but you can find this information on Google or start a thread inquiring about which deck has the best transport mechanism.

IME and from what I’ve read, the Philips Pro Series of transport mechanisms are higher quality than what’s found in a $1000 CD player.

I owned an ARC CDP which was built like a tank and used the Philips Pro Series. It was also a top-loading deck that never skipped or failed to play a disc.
Maybe you need to upgrade to a used high-end component such as ARC or Teac.

lowrider57, the two CDPs in question are a recently serviced California Audio Labs and a brand new Marantz ND8006 Network CDP. The trouble comes from long playing discs. I thought maybe a stand alone transport would provide the stability that seems to be lacking on the two current models. And if a stand alone transport is the answer, who makes a good one for under $1000?

may also be time to consider a NAS or something like a blue sound note 2, and put your CD’s on a hard drive. There are many really good servers for Audio out there. As time goes on CD players are going away and the old ones will fail. that said there are a few transports on the market now from companies like Denon, Sony etc. in the $200-$500 range.

Is your CDP having trouble with all discs? The sled upon which the disc sits is probably shot. A new CDP would be in order.
The technology of playing the disc on a transport is the same as a CD player.
However, a transport and DAC may be an upgrade since you can pair a higher quality dac with a player. A transport may provide better SQ since its primary function is to send a digital signal to the dac. There is no analogue stage.