Whats the deal with CD players?

From my experience I have found a huge difference in various high end players I have tried in my system. Though as mentioned above the subtle changes don't make themselves noticeable instantly, its after a few days of listening to all of my favorites that I notice things missing or out of place or so dead on I wet myself. I am currently using a cheaper dac then normal(awaiting new cd player) and find it takes more then a few drinks to get enjoyment out of it, which gets expensive and isn't the best way to enjoy this hobby. I agree that a certain level of resolution is required to hear differences in players. The easiest test of a system for me(that is usually source related) is the first track of Eric Clapton's Unplugged CD, there should be a very real sounding triangle left of center to the rear of the soundstage and cheaper dacs, and low resolution system just don't make this seem to create this sound accuratly.

Tobias and Garfish posts say it better than i ever could...however one point they missed is the question of quality...which plays little park in speakers(i've had my speakers for 20 yrs w/o a glitch) most amps are reliable for many years...but when it comes to CD players...the quality question is EXTREMELY important...POINT: my friends NAD died and was buried (while still a youth)..mt NAD broke a few weeks after purchased but was restored back to life...as well my friend has a BRAND NEW $3K CD player(big american name won't mention) broke down..repaired...now skips..so like i say QUALITY is first...but the problem here on audiogon is that ain't nobody telling the truth about their poor quality units...WHY?...nobody wants to get involved in any wars with another member over his beloved...last point on this long-winded post...peradin needs to read Bwhites EXCELLENT review of 3 SUPERIOR digital players..trust me there IS a difference in cdp's digital output...as for superior construction i have my picks but won't tell

I understand your how you feel. I was there 2 years ago. I had bought the top of the line Denon player ($600) and thought it could not be beat. A friend recommended I try some upgraded cables. Again, I thought a cable is a cable. But gave it a try, I bought a couple of 1/2 meter Audio Quest Vipers(about $75) and was BLOWN AWAY. I next upgraded my speaker cables to Audio Quest Slates ($150) and was further shocked. This began a long journey, but I will tell you a rewarding one. Forget the Prozac, I have found my system the best stress reducer I have ever tried. It is simply unbelieveable. Has anyone seen any research on the effects of really high end audio listening on the human pyche?

I would try the sony SACD ES-333es, you can't beat the sound for the money (about $500) Stereophile class A.

Tweekerman brings up a good point regarding quality. I have had in the past about 4k in a transport and dac. They both were returned some time in their life for sevice to make them well again. They sounded great, but they broke. I do not know if the two companies still service the units. One of them, the transport, no longer has the transport mechanism made. If the mechanism is not used currently in cd-rom or DVD applications, beware if you are going to keep the unit for many years. You can buy a cheap DVD player and treat it like kleenex:use it and throw it away when its finished. Vinyl seems like a better investment to me than digital. By the way, I sold my two units and bought a cheap dvd player...big drop in sound quality. I will be buying a VPI soon. Jallen

There are a bunch of good ideas here, i might try some better interconnects, but i remain skeptical on how improved conductance will help over such a short distance, especially considering the innards of my components will not be nearly as good as the cables. Granted the improved sheilding should help, but i havn't had any ground hum problems and have a fairly low noise floor.
As for my equipment, I use the H/K signature amp and preamp (i use the preamps direct inputs to bypass the dsp)my speakers are the dynaudio 1.8's. I am happy with my current setup, the only thing that has led me on this search was that my sony 300 dvd player cannot play cdr's, so i have been looking for a dedicated cd player that will also improve my regular cd's. I was just suprised how little improvment other players made considering what i have read about the importance of the source. I didn't want to mention the CD players i have tested b/c the salespeople were nice enough to let me demo them, but they were all highly rated and ranged from 300 to $1100.
I think my testing methods are sound, i have given each extended listening periods with pre-broken in equipment, with many music samples. I don't think a person should have to train their ears to hear minute differences. In my opinion, these differences should be apparent, so that an $1100 dollar CD player would be able to trounce a $300 dvd player. Again, this is my opinion based on my limited experience and crappy cables. I will try some new cables and update my post. Thanks for all the responces, the posts have been quite inciteful.