Here's the thing: video is stored on laserdiscs in composite format. Therefore, most players look their best when connected to a modern display via composite video because the display typically has a better comb filter (for converting to S-video) than the LD player does. Only a select few LD players, like the X0 and LD-S9, have comb filters comparable to those in modern displays, which is why their S-video output looks so good.

My current LD player is a CLD-99. I've also owned a CLD-79 and LD-S9 (imported new from Japan, and it breaks my heart whenever I think about having sold it). With composite video output, I found them all very comparable because the display did the heavy lifting. The LD-S9 was probably the sharpest, followed by the CLD-79 and CLD-99, which is a bit soft. Differences in S-video output were more apparent. However, I found the LD-S9's S-video and composite outputs comparable on my display, most likely because the comb filters were about equal in quality.

I think the most important thing for you to worry about is finding a capture card with an exceptional comb filter and an LD player with an exceptional composite output. I've heard the CLD-97 has great composite output, but you'd have to get it modded with an AC-3 output if you planned on capturing Dolby Digital soundtracks.