Best bang for the buck universal player?

mhw58
mhw58 Posts: 359
edited March 2004 in Electronics
I'm thinking of buying a universal sacd-dvd audio player.
I'm mainly interested in audio quality. Is there much difference between the Denon 2200 and 2900? What are some of the
better players in the $500 to $700 range?
Thanks, Mike
Fronts: SDA1C's
Rears: SDA2's
Center:CS400i
Sub: PSW505
Post edited by mhw58 on
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Comments

  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited March 2004
    I personally think the Denon 2200/2900/5900 have the lock in the upper price brackets, with Pioneer handling things very well in the <200 category.

    I do not exact data on the Denon differences, but there are those on here who will drop you a line.

    I hear great things about the 2200.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • ezc
    ezc Posts: 426
    edited March 2004
    Hope I can offer some info that helps! The 2900 was reviewed in the december / january 04 The absolute sound mag. the 2900 didnt get a great review for dvda & scad. They didnt have a review for the 5900 in this review of universal players. Im currently looking for a newmulti format player & an still looking at the 2900 & 5900. The 2900 has been discon & no word yet of a replacement. I have listened to a 5900 playing sacd using the denon link & thaught it sounded great, but I dont have golden ears. I think I would be satsfied with the 2900 hi res audio being I dont listen to music as much I do movies. Heres a link that may help, http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/main.html
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  • mhw58
    mhw58 Posts: 359
    edited March 2004
    Originally posted by ezc
    Hope I can offer some info that helps! The 2900 was reviewed in the december / january 04 The absolute sound mag. the 2900 didnt get a great review for dvda & scad. They didnt have a review for the 5900 in this review of universal players. Im currently looking for a newmulti format player & an still looking at the 2900 & 5900. The 2900 has been discon & no word yet of a replacement. I have listened to a 5900 playing sacd using the denon link & thaught it sounded great, but I dont have golden ears. I think I would be satsfied with the 2900 hi res audio being I dont listen to music as much I do movies. Heres a link that may help, http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/main.html


    Thanks for the info. The 5900 is out of my price range.
    Does anyone have any reviews of the Onkyo 800 universal
    player? I've heard good things about it.
    Mike
    Fronts: SDA1C's
    Rears: SDA2's
    Center:CS400i
    Sub: PSW505
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  • PolkWannabie
    PolkWannabie Posts: 2,763
    edited March 2004
    I have the Onkyo ...

    As far as features go the Onkyo does NOT have DVI out, but this is not something I have a use for now and probably won't have in the forseeable future.

    I side by sided it with the Denon 2200 / 2900 and saw no real pluses or minuses to either in the video department. In the audio area I preferred the Onkyo's sound for SACD's slightly to either of the Denon's.

    Please note that this was strictly based on personal taste and imho these are all good units.

    I bought mine slightly used off eBay for well under the going price in the stores with the thought that I could resell it for more or less the same as I paid if I decided later that I wanted DVI outs etc. There will however undoubtedly be more used Denon's floating around out there as these seem to show up on eBay and Audiogon all the time.
    Rick
    HT+ Sunfire TG IV, Dual CG Sig II's, CinePro 1K2, Oppo 981, Audio Technica PL120, Polk SRT's & F/X1000's, Samsung 71" DLP
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  • mhw58
    mhw58 Posts: 359
    edited March 2004
    Originally posted by PolkWannabie
    I have the Onkyo ...

    As far as features go the Onkyo does NOT have DVI out, but this is not something I have a use for now and probably won't have in the forseeable future.

    Thanks for the info. Here's a stupid question for you; what are
    DVI outs?
    Thanks, Mike
    Fronts: SDA1C's
    Rears: SDA2's
    Center:CS400i
    Sub: PSW505
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  • PolkWannabie
    PolkWannabie Posts: 2,763
    edited March 2004
    It's the next step up in quality of video connection i.e.

    Composite, SVHS, Component, DVI ...

    Denon's 5900 incorporates these as do some other higher end players.

    There are others here who I think are using this connection and can probably better explain the technology than I. When I last looked into this there was still some wrangling going on regarding standardization.
    Rick
    HT+ Sunfire TG IV, Dual CG Sig II's, CinePro 1K2, Oppo 981, Audio Technica PL120, Polk SRT's & F/X1000's, Samsung 71" DLP
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  • PolkThug
    PolkThug Posts: 7,532
    edited March 2004
    DVI is used for connecting digital devices. There is huge debate about the PQ difference betweeen DVI and component. I've used them both and I have no preference.

    Regards,
    PolkThug
    Never Forget
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