Is my dealer lying to me?

Gunbunny, you dont say which Panasonic dvd player you have, but it might be just as good or better as a cd player than the Cambridge.

Its the RP-56. I think the RP-91 is supposed to have better audio. I know the RP-91 plays DVD-Audio. I got the RP-56 because I beleive it has less problems with video than the RP-91, however, depending on who you talk to you'll get different opinions.

Speakers will effect the signature of the sound more then any other piece. Its a good idea to start with speakers and then try different cd players with the new speakers.

I agree with your conclusion and Perfectimage. Wait until you have your speakers and then audition the CDP. And you might want to consider a used CAL ICONN or even a (shudder) CL-10 changer (used for about $7-800) which was Sphile Class B.

My Panasonic DVD sounds like shit. My 10 year old Rotel 855 was seriously more dynamic and musical. Sure, cheap DACs have improved, but the difference in mechanical transport quality probably accounts for the difference.
Likewise, I wasn't happy with other CDPs (ARCAM 9, FMJ, ARC, Marantz, Bel Canto)to replace this old humble Rotel until I got a REALLY mechanically stable CDP with a super-smooth DAC (EMC-1 MkII). Thus I posit that it isn't just about lasers and chips. You gotta spin these acrylic frisbees VERY correctly, no?
My take on the component importance ladder is a bit of an amalgam of others' posts: I believe it's the transducers that carry all the weight:
1. Source
2. Speakers and room
3. Amplification to drive the speakers in the room.
4. Dedicated AC lines, and cables to synergize the system

One can get a used EMC-1 for around $2k, and I sold my Rotel for $250. Was there a difference? An incredibly large one! Was there a difference between the Rotel and the others I demoed in the $500-$1600 range? Essentially not...in that small improvements in smoothness over midrange bloom were counterbalanced by lack of dynamics or good pace. And the DVD alone was crap, and not THAT much better with a 'Canto on it.
My take on under $1k CDPs is that you try to find a player that has a good enough transport to keep time well, and then find a filter you like with your speakers/room.
Would I have bought the EMC-1 if I hadn't already upgraded to VERY resolving speakers? Probably not! But my Parsifal Encores (especially once driven by a great pre/mono setup) easily resolved stuff upstream that NOW proved bothersome, so the hunt was on to improve the front end...but ONLY when I could resolve differences therein.
I glean from some of the posts (and I agree) that one can get quite decent peformance from some cheap CDPs, so that the cost/benefit curve is rather non-linear.
I don't believe this is so much the case with loudspeakers, although room-matching is so important that one's specific results can be wildly non-linear, of course.
Nonetheless, I believe one should apportion one's budget for a great set of speakers, a decent front end, and clean adequate electronics in between as necessary. We HEAR transducers...elecronics just enable them, with as little coloration as possible if we're lucky.
Bon soir.