With respect to Audioslug and Dopogue's posts above, I've also taken their postion (controversial as it may be) in previous threads here going back about a year and a half or so. In that time period, I've been using an RCA 5223P DVD player (a full review that I wrote is posted at Audioasylum) as my prime digital source. It was better stock than my Arcam Alpha 8SE (which sold for about 4 times the price) which I ended up selling. Since then, I've improved the performance of the DVD player further with an aftermarket powercord and extensive chassis damping. As with any piece of audio equipment, I think it's important to properly site and isolate the piece, and my experience with the DVD player leads me to believe that they can benefit strongly from a decent power conditioner, probably because the power supplies in them are pretty cheap. By comparison, my Arcam was not as substantially improved by my power conditioner as the DVD player has been. I have always been an analogue fan, but cheap digital has made great strides in the past few years.
Whats the deal with CD players?
I have a hard time telling the difference between CD players, even ones that are cheaply made vs. 'hi-end', or even CD's vs. DVD players. I couldn't even notice a big difference between tube and solid state outputs. When i get a player home i'll set up a double blind a/b test vs. my inexpensive dvd player and have yet to find a player that i could honestly say was a marked improvement. When i read reviews, both amateur and professional, people make it seem like it's night and day. And what do people mean by jitter? Amps and speakers to me can be night and day, but Cd players? I currently use a pair of dynaudio 1.8's and some H/K separates and I'll admit I skimp on cables and use those plastic ones that came with my vcr and dvd player, but despite that, shouldn't I be able to at least tell which player i'm listening to? I'd upgrade my cables, but I don't think cables are to blame. I know this post will piss a lot of people off, but honestly, what is it that you hear that can make you drop tons of cash on a cd player?