[cashcards]

Hello:

I have been hearing a lot about these players. I need opinions. The price range is $180-280.

Pioneer DV440
Sony NS-500V
Marantz DV4200
Toshiba 5700

SACD and HDCD are not that important as I don't want a few new CD's to make my other thousand sound bad, but if they are included, that's fine. Single transport is fine.

I am more interested in the CD side and want it to play CD-R and
MP-3 would be nice as well but is not a necessity. I want it to include a DVD which is why I selected these, but the CD side is much more important as I will be hooking it to a small TV so nothing fancy on the DVD side is needed.

Other recommendations are welcome.

Lenny...

 

[shorton]

Lenny,

This is mostly to let you know that we aren't ignoring you...

If CD audio quality is the most important factor in choosing a DVD player, then I don't think you are going to get anything stellar for your stated price range.

In other words, you are probably going to get the same class of audio performance from any of the DVD players in the running. Your list will most likely all be safe bets in that none will be much worse than the rest.

Remember that at this price range, video comes first and CD audio (or analogue) outputs will not be getting much of the production budget.

Anyone else have anything to add???? Please?

 

[Tuberoller]

Lenny,

To be perfectly honest I have only heard the Sony.I think it is an oustanding player,when it's price is factored in it is an incredible bargain.For the $200.00 that you will spend on this player I strongly suggest that you give it a look/listen.I watched a movie on it earleir today and I think the picture quality is good as well.The sound quality with standard cd is stellar and the SACD performance is very good.If you buy this at a store like Best Buy or J&R you can always return it if you don't like it,but I think you will.I have been recommending this player strongly as an entry level CD/SACD player and I stand firmly behind that recommendation.A killer best buy.


BTW,don't take my word for any of this.Call the guys atMusic Direct and ask them what they thought of this player before they put it in their catalog along side the high end Sony and Marantz SACD players.these guys have a very nice listening room and audition all the gear they sell.This is done by committee and only the good stuff makes it into the catalog.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Hey tuberoller,
It seems that you really think rather highly of the cheaper CD and SACD players. (in another thread you stated that you think there's next to nothing between digital sources in terms of quality these days)

How much difference do you think there would be between these players and something like the SCD-555ES?

I'm thinking of aiming lower and getting something like an XB770 or XE670...

Or maybe a DVP-NS900V, but I don't really need the DVD part, so I thought I might as well concentrate on CD and SACD...

 

[Vertigo-1]

FWIW, I've auditioned the NS500V, and the 9000ES is quite a large leap from it. There's probably no other player I'd personally get for under $300 though. There's just something sick in being able to play CDs, DVDs, and multichannel SACDs all for under $300.

Tuberoller, does the NS500V have dual simultaneous RCA outputs by any chance? I know it has a pair for stereo out and then there's the front pair for the multichannel section, but can they both work at the same time to power say, a speaker system and headphone system seperately, in stereo mode?

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Well I can get the XB770 for quite a good deal, about $550

 

[Tuberoller]

Quote:

Originally posted by Joe Bloggs Hey tuberoller, It seems that you really think rather highly of the cheaper CD and SACD players. (in another thread you stated that you think there's next to nothing between digital sources in terms of quality these days)

I think SOME of the lower priced players are very good.I do think very highly of some of the more expensive players and in fact have been enjoying my Marantz SA-14 very much.I am affirming here that some high end players do some things better than their lower end counterparts but I think that these differences are resolved in details.

My brother and members of an audio club I belong to all believe that the differences between these players is most evident in a high resolution system.I think this applies well to our intended use as a headphone system source.there are some really bad very expensive players out there and some that are so overpriced for their performance potential that I think it is prudent to investigate the lower end players.

My point is that the point of diminishing returns has been lowered considerably for digital sources.I think that the last frontier for sonic improvements of digital sources is upsampling and the high resolution formats.this is my opinion but it is increasingly(but not universally) shared by those who have taken the time to investigate it.


the Sony player does have two sets of RCA output jacks and I have both sets in use at my shop office.I do not know if they can be used at the same time.I will check the manual.