ARCAM DV-137, your opinions......

I have one and am very happy with it. I haven't compared it to anything directly, I had a Phillips 963 but it died and that's why I got the Arcam. I would say it is better, but it's not a night and day difference. Now I might get into trouble with this observation, but I don't think there are huge differences with digital now a days. The law of diminshing returns hits a lot earlier with digital compared with other components. I think it is just as important to find a unit that has a good reputation for reliabilty. When digital drives die they quite often are not repairable.

I have one that I use in a home theater set up with a Arcam AVR280 receiver and B&W speakers. I am very happy with it. I use it for both movies and music and I have no complaints. I listen to both SACDs and CDs and think it sounds great. My only comparison is against my Arcam CD72 cd player in my two channel system and the DV137 sounds much better. I will likely upgrade from the CD72 soon and I have thought about picking up another DV137 solely for audio use since they can be bought at a decent price used. I have only had the DV137 for a little over 6 months so I can't speak about long term reliability; however, I have I had the CD72 for 5 years with no issues.

Scott