CD Player Upgrade?

I currently have a Sherwood Newcastle CD-980 that utilizes dual 20bit Burr Brown DAC's. I am thinking of upgrading to a Rotel 971 or a Rotel 1072. Would either of these be a substantial upgrade? If neither of the Rotel players will sound substantially better whats my next choice? Besides the DAC's what impacts sound quality in a CD player?
thanks for the help.
Relayer

Your choice of words "substantially better" is a tall order to fill. DAC's aside, if the overall build quality of the player you are considering is better then your current unit, you may notice a cleaner more spatious presentation but I'm not sure if you will notice a substantial difference because that depends on how you define substantial.

I used to have a Denon 380 with 20 bit Burr Brown DACs and the switch to Cambridge Audio player with a 24/196 Woolfson DAC made a noticeable improvement in clarity, instrument separation and staging. How much of the improvement was attributed to the DAC and how much was due to better build quality and better parts in the Cambridge unit, I'm not sure. good luck.

I guess I would define the term"substantially better" by being able to detect a noticable improvement without "forced" or critical listeneing. For example; playing one of my favorite CD's and noticing right away that the highs are smoother and the low end is more defined with a casual listen. I have a pretty good ear so what some might say is a small improvement I would consider substantial
relayer

The player you are considering has an 18bit DAC that does not support SACD or DVD-A. It is designed for standard CD playback. At a price point of only around 600.00, you are certainly not overspending and minimizing your risk. Can you audition the unit before purchase?

The two things I've learned over the last couple of years about CD players (mostly from the folks here) is that quality of the analog response after digital conversion is a function of good design, and, contributors on this forum seem to feel that CD player mechanisms can have a short life span which tends to support not spending big money on a player to start with.