Universal DVD Players.

[SCIDB]

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting one of these items. I fancy a new DVD player so I might as well get one that can play Sacd & DVD-A.

Has anyone had any experience of using any? The Pioneer ones spring to mind. They do one at £250, at £400 & £800.

Anyone used the new Denon player at around £850? I think Merlin had one for a bit? Good piece of kit?

It would be good to see what people think of these ( & any other) players.


SCIDB

 

[davidcotton]

You may get more luck with the query here :-

http://www.avforums.com/frame.html?...m/forums/register.php?a=act&u=27049&i=6421166


On the other end of the scale I have just bought a budget Pioneer for a £100 to replace my ageing wharfedale and very nice it is too. One particularly useful feature is the memory function where it plays back from the last time you had the disc in the machine. No more hunting around trying to find out where you were when you stopped it last time

Cheers

 

[merlin]

Originally posted by SCIDB
Anyone used the new Denon player at around £850? I think Merlin had one for a bit? Good piece of kit?

It would be good to see what people think of these ( & any other) players.


SCIDB

Yes indeed I had a Denon 2900 on loan. Did I like it Well yes, I bought one

Cost 720 quid, it's multi region for DVD playback and I have to say it's damned good for the money. My needs were different, in that I needed a DVD player with prog scan anyway, but i was also interested in dipping a toe into the world of hi rez.

Got me some DVDA software (Natalie Marchant, The Eagles & Grateful Dead) plus I already had some SACD hybrids (Pink Floyd, The Police, Rolling Stones) and hooked it up in a basic AV system.

I have to say, the new formats can give superb performance for the money. The 2900 was the first universal player that offered me the right combination of sound quality and value for money. Both SACD and DVDA sound good on it, offering decidedly different presentations.

Those with really high quality CD or vinyl replay already, are likely to notice small differences that make the new formats an interesting alternative. You would have to spend megabucks on a CD player to get this kind of performance. Vinyl is of course a different matter, but I suspect SACD played on the 2900 will delight many lovers of the black stuff.

If however, you are coming at this from say a 1000 quid CD player, you are likely to have a huge grin on your face

Is it worth spending more I decided not, I felt it was best to have a small investment now and see how the market pans out. With new players appearing by the month from the likes of Bel Canto, Linn and Theta, it seems a truly high end implementation is on the cards soon. For me however, the Denon represents a great way to get good sound, and that's before I put a Shunyata on the back, a sink underneath, and stick some dish cloth round the SMPS

Oh and DSOTM in 5.1 is a hoot

 

[SCIDB]

Hi Merlin,

Thanks for that write up. I'm after a DVD player that plays films well & allows me to dabble with sacd & DVD-A. I like the look of the Denon player. First & formost it needs to offer a damm good picture.

I should be able to borrow one maybe next week. I do have some SACDs & may be able to borrow some DVD-As.

Was this the only player you tried?


SCIDB

 

[merlin]

No SC, I went through a few

Pioneer 656/747/757
Onkyo (forget the model)
Teac DV50

It was trying the DV50 that made me go for the Denon. The DV50 can be had via the internet for $4000, much less expensive than it is sold for over here.

Yes it's better, but it's not night and day. And I suspect there will be better players than the DV50 available for less in the future.

Picture quality on the 2900 is excellent. I use a Panasonic 42W4 screen, so I wanted prog scan for both Pal and NTSC. Much has been written about the video bugs on the 2900, but I haven't seen any. I think the Meridian is superior (but four times the price and no SACD). The top Arcam DV27 also has an exceptional picture but similar disadvantages.

My thinking is that the 2900 is an excellent, well built, all round player. Having witnessed the difference RF reduction can make with video replay, I reckon by spending say 300 quid on a mains cable, 150 on a Siesmic sink, 300 on some damned good cables (component and analogue) and a few quid on some ERS, I will end up with a player the equal of the DV50 at less than half the price.

Time will of course tell, but having seen what Max Townsend acheived with the 747, I believe these mid market players have great potential. Even if you just plug in the stock unit, there arn't many of us who would be disappointed.

BTW the difference between the low end and mid range products is huge, so really look to the Pioneer 757 or the Denon, the Onkyo ain't in the ballpark. Of course, as with all things AV, these comments only apply for the next 24 hours

 

[Rory]

Originally posted by merlin


Time will of course tell, but having seen what Max Townsend acheived with the 747, I believe these mid market players have great potential. Even if you just plug in the stock unit, there arn't many of us who would be disappointed.

what did he do with the dv747a? i have one!!

 

[batfink]

Originally posted by Rory
what did he do with the dv747a? i have one!!

He did this. (it's not cheap though!)

 

[wadia-miester]

And we have done better I might add once told me it had the best cd play back he'd heard a few of us listened at Max's house, I feel he needs to re-evaluated his thoughts on that one. WM

 

[SteveC]

Marantz 8300 and 8400 are good

I had the older on home loan and then bought the 8400, even though I already have a Linn Ikemi. I put some comments on Pink Fish if you are interested.

SteveC

 

[Matt F]

In addition to the Denon 2900 and Pioneer 757i, I suggest you also check out the Sony 999ES - you can pick it up for £730 ish.

The only thing it doesn't do is DVD-A (well, it is a Sony so what do you expect) but it's a top class (ES) machine and does PAL and NTSC progressive scan. It would need to be better than the Denon and Pioneer to make up for it's lack of DVD-A but you won't know how good it is unless you give it a go.

By the way, I think "leconcepts" is one of the cheapest places for the Denon and Pioneer (they list the 757i at £599).

Matt.

 

[technobear]

If you want to mail order a DVD 2900, check out NexNix.co.uk also. £680 incl. VAT.

Chris

 

[merlin]

Just to say I had a dem of the new Linn Unidisk 2.1 yesterday

I'd arranged it a while ago and went along armed with some of my new DVDA's. OK so the cost. SIX BIG ONES Must be good for that, apparently with CD replay only bettered by the CD12.

Well how on earth can Linn charge such an obscene amount of money for such an average product The dealer was surprised to hear that I found the hi rez disc's reproduction, which he chose to showcase the player, to sound almost identical to my CD system Certainly no better, and SACD and CD replay was very disappointing, not in the same league. And it currently has a software bug, preventing it from reading an SACD after playing DVDA!!!!!!!!!!

So one overhyped, overpriced product from Linn then (Teac are just as guilty with the DV50 if you ask me).

Now the CD12 was a different kettle of fish I would very much like one of those puppies, possibly the most musical one box CD player I've had the pleasure of hearing. If only that was sensibly priced

 

[Matt F]

Merlin, have you listened to the Lexicon RT10?

It's certainly a bit more reasonably priced than the Linn/Teac.

Matt.

 

[SteveC]

Originally posted by merlin
Just to say I had a dem of the new Linn Unidisk 2.1 yesterday

I'd arranged it a while ago and went along armed with some of my new DVDA's. OK so the cost. SIX BIG ONES Must be good for that, apparently with CD replay only bettered by the CD12.

Actually, the 2.1 is lower down the ladder than the 1.1 - in audio anyway, according to Linn. (The code is that the 2.1 means second rank audio, 1st rank video.) According to listeners, it's about the rank of an Ikemi on audio.

Well how on earth can Linn charge such an obscene amount of money for such an average product The dealer was surprised to hear that I found the hi rez disc's reproduction, which he chose to showcase the player, to sound almost identical to my CD system Certainly no better, and SACD and CD replay was very disappointing, not in the same league. And it currently has a software bug, preventing it from reading an SACD after playing DVDA!!!!!!!!!!

Depends on your existing player how 'bad' this result is, but if it is Ikemi level that is entirely consistent with what Linn and others expect. It's true there are software bugs that are being worked out.

So one overhyped, overpriced product from Linn then (Teac are just as guilty with the DV50 if you ask me).

Now the CD12 was a different kettle of fish I would very much like one of those puppies, possibly the most musical one box CD player I've had the pleasure of hearing. If only that was sensibly priced

You should have had a demo of the 1.1 then - it's nearly up to CD12 standards on audio, miles better than Ikemi, and at only a couple of big ones more it's a bargain in comparison to the CD12

SteveC

 

[merlin]

Originally posted by SteveC
You should have had a demo of the 1.1 then - it's nearly up to CD12 standards on audio, miles better than Ikemi, and at only a couple of big ones more it's a bargain in comparison to the CD12

SteveC

Sorry Steve, i was getting my 1's and 2's mixed up

It was the £6.5K one that I listened to, the one with the better audio. And it's a country mile off sounding as good as an Audionet V2 let alone serious products lke CD12, Wadia & dCS.

Seems you've been reading the LinnSpin alot recently If it's better than the Ikemi then that must be seriously turgid. To put it's performance into context, on hyper tweaky, audiophile recording DVDA, stood comparison with a CD played on my digital setup. On CD it was very poor to these ears, and would struggle to hold it's head up at less than half the price.

 

[SteveC]

Originally posted by merlin
Sorry Steve, i was getting my 1's and 2's mixed up

It was the £6.5K one that I listened to, the one with the better audio. And it's a country mile off sounding as good as an Audionet V2 let alone serious products lke CD12, Wadia & dCS.

Seems you've been reading the LinnSpin alot recently If it's better than the Ikemi then that must be seriously turgid. To put it's performance into context, on hyper tweaky, audiophile recording DVDA, stood comparison with a CD played on my digital setup. On CD it was very poor to these ears, and would struggle to hold it's head up at less than half the price.

OK no harm done. Yes, I read the Linn spin but I have a friend who has just been bowled over by a 1.1/Kisto demo - that's almost first-hand info I'm quite sympathetic with what you say - that's why I recently bought a Marantz for universal player duties.

SteveC

 

[Matt F]

Originally posted by Matt F
In addition to the Denon 2900 and Pioneer 757i, I suggest you also check out the Sony 999ES - you can pick it up for £730 ish.

The only thing it doesn't do is DVD-A (well, it is a Sony so what do you expect) but it's a top class (ES) machine and does PAL and NTSC progressive scan. It would need to be better than the Denon and Pioneer to make up for it's lack of DVD-A but you won't know how good it is unless you give it a go.

Just read a glowing review of the 999ES but there's now a big black mark against it (in my book anyway). Bass Management on SACD (and on DD/DTS for that matter - not that I'd the player do decode this) is limited to one crossover setting of 120Hz! What were they thinking of? This is way to high - the standard (if there is one) is 80Hz - above this bass starts getting directional.

So I've crossed it off my wish list and replaced it with the Denon 2900.

Matt.

 

[voodoo]

Originally posted by merlin
I use a Panasonic 42W4 screen, so I wanted prog scan for both Pal and NTSC.

Sorry to slightly high-jack this thread :shame: but Merlin, I have a Panasonic 42W6 arriving in 2 weeks and will be hooking up my Sony 9000ES via Component (for Region1 only ). I've never had any experience with Component connections - any hints setup, quality of cables etc ?