I definitely agree.
I watched DBZ first as well, absolutely loved the series (minus Buu Saga) and still enjoy watching it today.
But after seeing DragonBall, I preferred it overall.
Ki attacks begin to lose all meaning in DBZ, with goku throwing off kamehameha's left, right and centre, all with little consequence. In DB a single kamehameha was a really big deal. The training was intense, the execution took time and the effect was devastating.
Plus there were more animal-people which were fun.