Topic: DVD-A player recomendations??

[sgordo]

Hey all,

searched the archives and was kinda suprised not to see this anywhere (probably means I just missed it,  )  But anyway, just curious if anyone has had good/bad luck with any of the simpler dvd players capable of playing dvdas.  Meaning, I dont need to many bells and whistles, just want to be able to play some burnt dvd-audio discs.

Panasonic? Pioneer?? I know there are a handful out there at this point.  Thanks for the help.

[sideshowbob]

More than what you need Scott, but look into the Marantz DV8300. It plays everything...SACD, DVDA, DVD, CDR, CDRA, etc. I could not be happier with mine and I only use it for DVDA and SACD. Thanks....Jason

[dmonterisi]

the marantz dv8300 and dv8400 are killer boxes.  the new denon is supposedly the super top of the line (~$2k).  I have the onkyo dv-sp800 and i'm very happy with it.  it plays dvd/dvd-a/sacd/cd/whatever else.  very good sounding box, especially at this price point (~$600-700, i think now).  from what the manual says, it will output 24/96 from dvd-a, which a lot of boxes won't do.  i haven't tried it yet, but i can if that's something you are interested in.  i have 2 minor complaints: to change from 2ch sacd to surround SACD, you need to go to the players root menu, unlike dvd-a where you can just switch.  such a stupid thing.  and it does not do onboard dolby digital or DTS decoding.  so you still have to have a HT receiver if you want that.  that's not a problem for me, but it's kind of silly not to have it onboard.

i think both marantz boxes are a step up component wise, but you'll pay for it as well.

-damon

[Nick S.]

Denon 2200, ~$500 and does everyting you need!  Highly recomended.

[kindms]

Posted on the oade board

http://www.cambridge-audio.co.uk/noflash/540d_dvd.html

24/192 playback. Not sure of its price though

[Thom Joad]

The folks over at Audio Asylum are raving about the new Toshiba DVD's.  The 3950 to be exact, 24/192 DAC and a whisper quiet transport, and the best part $60-70 at Best Buy!  They actually raved so much I had to go pick one up for myself and see what all the fuss was about, and I can say after about 2 weeks of burn in, it's pretty much all true!  Thing is a real sleeper!  The 3950 doesn't do DVD-A but it's big brother the 4900 (I think) does, and with the same transport and BB converters, it has to sound close to the 3950.  I think the 4900 runs about $90, and I would have gotten it instead of the 3950, except my local Best Buy was sold out of them.  I may go back and exchange the 3950 for it though, gotta love 30 no hassle return policy.  I highly suggest anyone who's in the market for a new DVD player go and try one out.  For these prices you really can't lose!  Check it out at Audio Asylum under the Digital Asylum and see what people are saying...

Matt

[dmonterisi]

a sub-$100 dvd/dvd-a player?  holy f'n shit!!!!!

[Sugarite]

Toshiba has been using 192kHz dac's since the SD-1800, but you can't disable the auto-power-off function, so you can't keep the analog components warm, and they also sometimes lie about DVD-R support.  Hitachi also uses 192kHz DAC's, just doesn't write it on the front panel, and they can be left on 24/7, and handle DVD-R very well.

Here's the best searchable database of user reports on DVD players:
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers

[Nick S.]

Does it do SACD??  If so then I'd get it, otherwise I'd hold off for something that does it all.  Its been really fun picking up all the SACD's and checking them out, like someone took the blinders off compared to CD's.

[fsulloway]

I just took some of my DVD-A's that are all on DVD+R's up to Best Buy to see if the Toshiba 4900 would play them. Sure enough they all played. They only had a floor model so I picked it up for 69$. Obviously there are better models out there but $69 is hard to beat.

[Willie T.]

I was going to recomend this one (well actually the 4900), I got it a few weeks ago and I don't have a single complaint, it sounds great.   It also plays wma and mp3, and the video output is great.  It will also output DVD-video at 24/96.

The folks over at Audio Asylum are raving about the new Toshiba DVD's.  The 3950 to be exact, 24/192 DAC and a whisper quiet transport, and the best part $60-70 at Best Buy!  They actually raved so much I had to go pick one up for myself and see what all the fuss was about, and I can say after about 2 weeks of burn in, it's pretty much all true!  Thing is a real sleeper!  The 3950 doesn't do DVD-A but it's big brother the 4900 (I think) does, and with the same transport and BB converters, it has to sound close to the 3950.  I think the 4900 runs about $90, and I would have gotten it instead of the 3950, except my local Best Buy was sold out of them.  I may go back and exchange the 3950 for it though, gotta love 30 no hassle return policy.  I highly suggest anyone who's in the market for a new DVD player go and try one out.  For these prices you really can't lose!  Check it out at Audio Asylum under the Digital Asylum and see what people are saying...

Matt

[Tim]

I just took some of my DVD-A's that are all on DVD+R's up to Best Buy to see if the Toshiba 4900 would play them. Sure enough they all played. They only had a floor model so I picked it up for 69$. Obviously there are better models out there but $69 is hard to beat.

    DVD-A, here I come!

[sygdwm]

fwiw. my $170 pioneer dvd player plays everything i throw at it. has all i/o you would need. btw im not comparing to any other player just a thumbs up to a cheap universal dvd player.

d

edit: this player also has digi out for external dac.

[Spinman]

I too have the pioneer.  Like dre said, it plays everything.  It's not nearly as nice as the Marantz or Denon's mentioned above, but it's a helluva lot cheaper.  It's 149 dollars at Best Buy.
The Model number is
DV 563A
The only things I don't like about it, is that it automatically shuts it's self off... Which I hate... and it supposedly doesn't play SVCD, just VCD.  I haven't tried the SVCD, though..  So, I can't verify it.
Dave
btw,
The DVD-A and SACD discs are incredible.  I picked up
American Beauty, Workingman's Dead, Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", Dark Side of the Moon, Sam Cooke "Live at the Copa," Eagles "Hotel California," The Band's "The Last Waltz." Neil Young's "Harvest" and a couple of other titles.. There's no comparison to the regular cd's.
I took the couple of hundred bucks I saved on this deck, and put it toward the titles above..
Peace,
Dave

[JeffK]

modwright.com will do upgrade mods to most of the lower cost universal players as well.

I'm trying to decide now if I should buy a low cost unit and have it modded, or just pay more up front.  At the current time, 2 channel CD and SACD/DVD-A are what I'm most interested in anyways so I'm still up in the air.