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