Can't rally say which is best, but I've used:
Sony BDP-S5100 (PCM)
Harman Kardon DVD-47 (6 ch. Analog )
Oppo BDP-103 (8 ch. Analog, and PCM )
On these Harman Kardon receivers:
AVR-144
AVR-3600
HK 3490
Favorite combo setups are:
- HK DVD 47 / HK 3490 / 2X JBL E-80
-> analog, stereo playback. Classical, Jazz
- HK DVD 47 / HK 3490 / 2X JBL S38II
-> analog, stereo playback. Rock, Heavy, Pop
- HK DVD 47 / AVR-144 / 2X JBL S38II (F) 2X R.Audio R50s (S) 1 X R.Audio C550 (C)
-> analog, stereo playback. Classical, Jazz
- Oppo BDP-103 / AVR-3600 / 4X JBL Northridge E-60 (Fr L+R & Rs L+R) / 1X Infinity Beta 40 (Ctr)
-> analog, multi-channel playback. Classical, Jazz, New Age
- Oppo BDP-103 / AVR-3600 / 2X JBL Northridge E-60
-> analog, stereo playback. Rock, Heavy
- Sony BDP-S5100 / AVR-3600 / 2X JBL Northridge E-60
-> PCM over HDMI, stereo. New Age, pop
I've found the Sony using PCM for certain albums, and certain albums only, can be enjoyable for bass management purposes. (The Who "The Singles" and The Bladerunner soundtrack come to mind). I think a "best" is hard to find. It seems to me that each genre has it's own best combination.
The differences are slight, and one must be very familiar to perceive the differences, but they are present, and once you've noticed them, you can't miss'em. Definitely, PCM over HDMI is not as good, and no math, numbers or person could ever convince me of the contrary.
Overall my Oppo BDP-103 is best, but the HK DVD 47 stands tall and proud.
My humble 2 cents.