Next ? Is DVD audio as good as CD?

I can only speak from my own experience, but the sound I'm getting from my new Pioneer DV-37 is better than the Rega Planet CD player I previously owned. In addition, the DV-37 will also play 24-bit/96Khz disks (digital output into my DSP pre/pro). I personally think it makes no sense to buy an expensive, high-end CD player, and I have absolutely no qualms recommending the DV-37.

I use my Pioneer DV05 and I enjoy listening to it (the DV37 is it's replacement). I talked to Stan Warren about mods and he said that Pioneers high-end models (DV05, DV37, DV09, etc) use Japanese DAC chips, but the cheaper models (DV525, DV333, DV434, etc) use Burr Brown chips. The more expensive models may sound better out of the box, but the cheaper models could sound much better with $200 to $250 in mods (on a $200 player). Stan says that the cheap modded players sound very very good (total $450)...better than the more expensive models and they have much more potential (he can't do much with the Japanese DAC chips).

There is a very interesting article in new Stereophile, in Sam's Space (Sam Tellig). He "touches" on this subject, and if you read it you will come to some answers. Just an insert:"...It seems DVD-A releases from so called "major" record labels will be watermarked. Do you want these crippled discs? I sure as hell don't"

And if you're willing to spend more money, you can buy a Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD player ($1500 retail and about $1100 mail order). It's CD play is being compared to comparatively priced CD players. It's SACD play exceeds $10K turntables and CD players. Check out the reviews in audioreview.com. I love my S9000ES. I bought a Panasonic A7 ($1000 list, $500 street) and JVC723GD ($900 list, $570 steet), but returned them. After listening to the 9000ES, the CD play of the other two, plus my Sony DVP-300, sounded cheap.

My cd system consists of a Krell 300cd with Synergistic Research Resolution Reference cables including the power. The interconnect is actively shielded. So I have in excess of 6k$ deicated to cd playback. I recently purchased a JVC-D 723 DVD player because I wanted progressive scanning. The player also had DVD audio playback capability. On Cd playback I compared it to the Krell. It was like comparing a cru bourgeois bourdeaux to a premier cru. Both are enjoyable but even in a good year only one is memorable. The gap narrows or disappears when I play a DVD audio disc even though I am using a stock power cord & el cheapo interconnects. Based upon what I have heard; I truly hope DVD audio takes off because I would invest in a unit that take full advantage of it.