twodolphins No question about it, the EAR Acute sounds analog like the way you described it. I started hoarding CDs even from the 1980s once I bought the Acute in 2006. So easy to listen to. However, 2019, I heard the COS Engineering DAC D2v which has superior resolution without giving up the tonal balance so I replaced my Acute. I am probably going to move up to the D1. DACs have improved to the point where LPs and CDs similarly mastered will sound similar. With 7,000 CDs now, I appreciate them (I hated them in the 1980s and early 90s-it was the players I owned like the Muse Signature 9). Unfortunately, in the 1980s, I didn't know about the Kyocera 310 and 410 which were extremely analog like sounding with tepid deep bass. That was a great early CD player.
The Most "Analog" CD Player?
Came across this new CD player, which may finally end the eternal quest for the analog-sounding CD player.
https://www.amazon.com/Nad-C538-Compact-Disc-Player/dp/B079QGM6WX/ref=sr_1_15?dchild=1&keywords=...
https://www.amazon.com/Nad-C538-Compact-Disc-Player/dp/B079QGM6WX/ref=sr_1_15?dchild=1&keywords=...