I think this quote from Home Theatre Review sums up the answer to my question pretty cleanly:

"Perhaps gear reviews should be reviews of chipsets: Cirrus Logic versus Anchor Bay, Burr-Brown versus Analog Devices, etc. These days, manufacturers basically make chip and feature choices and assemble the packages to meet price points. However, it’s impossible to evaluate these chips outside the context of their implementation within the manufacturer’s overall circuit architecture, power supply schemes, and analog output circuitry."

This tells me that my focus on the chip is wrongminded.  I really need to be thinking about the overall unit.  That being said, is anyone using the Marantz NA7004 as a DAC and if so, do you like it?  I am extremely familiar with Marantz media features and I am a fan, but not sure if this is a suitable DAC that will perform at the levels of the Peachtree or Cambridge units. 

Regarding CD transposts, it seems like Oppo BDP95, Cambridge Azur 650 BD and the Marantz CD5004 are the best values accross price points and will likely choose one of them.