I own a Marantz SR8500 and since it is able to decode HDCD, do I still need a HDCD CD player to enjoy HDCD playback or just a normal good quality CD player?
Just a normal CD player if you use a digital connection to the receiver. If you use analogue, then the player would need the HDCD decoding. However, some of the better cdp's make HDCD a moot point imho.