This subject has been touched on many times, with interesting responses in the past. I'll add my $0.02 worth. You said previously that you had an external DAC so, here we go.
Back in the day, Sony and Pioneer had their wars and the competition was fierce. Sony's ES units were powerhouses and built very well. Same was true for the particular Pioneer Elite units. When people moved to DVD players they forgot about CDs and the stupidly expensive Pioneer Elite units were forgotten by some (not all). These things had a build quality that ensured that Pioneer didn't make a lot of money because, wow. Take a look at Sykfiaudio's videos on the Pioneer Elite PD-93. Look at how that thing was built. Well many of the Pioneer Elite units were built that same way. Everything was copper plated, including the capacitors. Separate power supplies for analog and digital.
If you can find one, buy it. Same is true for the PD-65, PD71, PD91 and also for the DV-09 and BDP09.
For a transport only, you can't beat a DV-09, BDP09 or BD95. They are really cheap now because the world went to Blue ray. But as a transport. Wow. The DV-09 weighs about 35 lbs,
I have many, since I repair them, (long story), but I recently found a mint PD-93 that I've been looking for. I have an Audio Research REF10 preamp and a DAC 9, but the PD-93 analog out sounds quite nice. Same is true for the BDP09 and BD95, PD-65, etc. But as transports only. you would be hard pressed to beat these units into a quality DAC and they only costs a few hundred.
The Sony ES units are equally nice.
My suggestion is take a quick look at Skifi audio's web site and videos. They really know their stuff and just look at the units. 8/10/2022, if you find one of these buy, buy, buy series.
I'm an Engineer and Tech also, but when I look at these units on the videos and how they are built, amazing.
good hunting.
enjoy
