Keep in mind that the BDP-83 doesn't have ESS DAC's, but instead Cirrus (albeit one of Cirrus' best chips). The 83SE got the ESS DAC's. Moving to the 83SE or 95 from the 83 or 93 makes some pretty noticeable changes that include the ESS chip. I ran the BDP-95 in my stereo setup for a bit and thought it had a bit of an advantage over the 83SE when both stereo analog outputs were compared, but the 95's stereo output is using an eight-channel DAC just for two channels (bridging four channels for each output). The eight-channel analog outputs of the 83SE and 95 are a more accurate comparison for what an ESS DAC in a surround processor can do.