I have a Marantz DV6400, which is a "universal" player. It upsamples red book CDs before converting the signal, and it's definitely an improvement over my old player. What I'm wondering is if any of you out there have any thoughts or experience with using an external non-upsampling DAC with an upsampling player. I'm not concerned about technical compatibility, as I know the DV6400 outputs a 16/44.1 signal through it's digital outs. What I'm wondering about is sound. I have a few SACDs and DVD-As, but the vast majority of my digital catalogue is still CD. Basically, does anyone have any thoughts on whether a lower-quality upsampling DAC is better than a higher-quality non-upsampler?

I've been looking around on the used market lately and have seen some highly rated but slightly out-of-date DACs for amazingly low prices. I know these would only convert my CDs and not my other discs (unless it supports 24/96 DVD signals, which a few do). I'm very happy with the sounds I get from all my non-red book discs, so I'm not concerned with the fact that it wouldn't handle those signals. Let me know your thoughts.

Mike