What makes certain cd players better than others?

A lot has to do with the DAC's used but also how they are implemented. Power supply isolation and capacity plays a big part. I personally think the jitter level is a very important factor. It seems to follow the other items listed and ultimately effects the sound you hear. There are a lot of reasons for difference. As this thread progresses, you should get the idea.

Tom,

You're right, the PCM-63K's were some of the best DAC's I've played with. Damned expensive, I think they were around $60 a pop (the K version denotes military grade and were much tighter tolerances). Smooth, analog sounding and definately worth the price of admission. Sadly they were discontinued in favour of the PCM170x series. Crystal is making some fine stuff these days, showing up in most of the better units on the market. Advances for sure but still not the equal of my turntable...

Some high end CD players like the tube based BAT VK-D5SE uses four PCM-63K (two per channel). So based on Jeff's quote, BAT spent $240 just for the DAC chips.

Which one use my ML 36s ? Hope it is OK to ask her!
Thanks

Krazeeyk: You've asked a very difficult question, actually. Despite a plethora of "theories," attempts to corrolate sonic differences to technical attributes are pretty much purely speculative.