[strangelove]

I'm thinking of getting an new universal player for hi-fi audio only (CD, SACD, DVD-A). I'm leaning toward getting the Marantz DV7001, but was wondering if anyone knew how the DV7600 or DV9600 compare to it for audio only.

The DV9600 is considerably more, but refurbed it's only a few hundred more than the DV7001. However looking at the specs it doesn't seem to be much different in terms of audio capabilities

The DV7600 seems to be an old model and is going for a couple of hundred less than the DV7001. Spec-wise it seems to be slightly inferior to the DV7001, but I was wondering if anyone has any hands on experience with its performance.

Thanks

 

[325xi]

Marantz DV player for audio? Back then I bought DV8400, and two days later was terribly happy that the store agreed to take it back. Marantz... universal - never again.

 

[plaidplatypus]

Umm, the DV9600 has a headphone jack... You probably be better off buying a SA8001 for audio and a HD-DVD or BD player for video.

http://us.marantz.com/Products/1644.asp

If you want a DVD player to have great sound you'll probably have to get it modded.

http://www.sacdmods.com/

 

[strangelove]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plaidplatypus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Umm, the DV9600 has a headphone jack... You probably be better off buying a SA8001 for audio and a HD-DVD or BD player for video. http://us.marantz.com/Products/1644.asp If you want a DVD player to have great sound you'll probably have to get it modded. http://www.sacdmods.com/

The SA8001 does do multi-channel SACD or DVD-A though.

So then the consensus is that the Marantz Universal players aren't very good? What's a decent universal player under $1000? How's the Denons?

Thanks

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strangelove /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's a decent universal player under $1000? How's the Denons?

Some of the Denon universal players are legendary, especially the modded ones. The 3910 modded is one of the best out there.

 

[Sovkiller]

New DVD players and universal players from Marantz, are better than other brands, stock....Also they are fully convertible to play any format any region, the Sony are a pain in the neck and only play NTSC region 1 forever, I ahve one though, but thinking seriously in getting a Marantz...

I also reco that if you are going to invest in a player, forget about those mods, and get the best you can get stock, I have not heard any modded player that could compete with their equivalent in cost after the mods. IMO the cost of the mods are ridiculously high in comparison of what you get in return, and no mod will convert a 500.00 player into a 1500.00 one peformancewise, the differences in performnace is at best marginally better, but it is not day and night as amny claim them to be, of course after dropping that amount of cash who will admit the opposite...!!!!

I have the 555ES and have heard the 555ES modded, and honestly if I'm going to drop the cash of those mods, I preffer to look to another more expensive player instead...

 

[plaidplatypus]

I personally would put the money you'd be spending on a multi-channel system on a 2-channel rig.

The old SA-8260 had multi-channel output.
The new NAD M5 has multi-channel output, not to mention stereo balanced outs.


Ask the owners of modded players to what extent their players improved. Not all mods are equal; some are snake oil, others do make the night and day difference.

And, yes, start with the best stock design and mod from there (if at all).

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plaidplatypus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I personally would put the money you'd be spending on a multi-channel system on a 2-channel rig. The old SA-8260 had multi-channel output. The new NAD M5 has multi-channel output, not to mention stereo balanced outs. Ask the owners of modded players to what extent their players improved. Not all mods are equal; some are snake oil, others do make the night and day difference. And, yes, start with the best stock design and mod from there (if at all).

If you have a good DAC then maybe a high-end universal player like the Marantz models may not be needed. I use a very affordable Oppo and optical into my Lavry for sound that is at least equal to my computer feeding the Lavry. Just remember for any universal player, that all hi-rez music will not be feed in true hi-rez. Only those disks that do not have the DRM fix on them will be feed at 88 or 96 kHz, otherwise they will be downsampled to 48 kHz by International Law conventions.

Some new A/V receivers now have HDMI inputs that will allow hi-rez music to be played out of their analog outputs the same as an universal player.

Another option is to take an Oppo and have it's audio sections upgraded so that the RCA output will be of high quality so that you can hear the high-rez music with quality.

All this assumes that this is one of the primary reasons for going with a universal player.

Here is link discussing the Oppo and hi-rez issues.http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/i...?topic=31641.0

Link for modifications to the Oppo: http://www.tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/Oppo_Player_Mods.html

 

[plaidplatypus]

Most external DACs lack HDCD or SACD decoding. They only do 2-channel PCM.

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plaidplatypus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most external DACs lack HDCD or SACD decoding. They only do 2-channel PCM.

The Musical Fidelity X-Dac does HDCD.

 

[strangelove]

I'm really looking to get a stock player; modding doesn't really interest me. Right now I'm using a Pioneer DV-563A universal player. I wanted to upgrade to a player that would give me noticeable improvements in both multi-channel and stereo.

Is it possible to get a stock universal player for under $1000 that has good stereo and multi-channel capabilities or should I just focus on stereo and get a DAC and keep my current player as a transport?

 

[andrew3199]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strangelove /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm really looking to get a stock player; modding doesn't really interest me. Right now I'm using a Pioneer DV-563A universal player. I wanted to upgrade to a player that would give me noticeable improvements in both multi-channel and stereo. Is it possible to get a stock universal player for under $1000 that has good stereo and multi-channel capabilities or should I just focus on stereo and get a DAC and keep my current player as a transport?

"Getting a dac for my Pioneer DV-563A" is exactly what I am about to do. The transport is suppose to be the same as in their higher end players.

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strangelove /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm really looking to get a stock player; modding doesn't really interest me. Right now I'm using a Pioneer DV-563A universal player. I wanted to upgrade to a player that would give me noticeable improvements in both multi-channel and stereo. Is it possible to get a stock universal player for under $1000 that has good stereo and multi-channel capabilities or should I just focus on stereo and get a DAC and keep my current player as a transport?

Going with an external DAC loses the hi-rez playback, and therefore the need for a universal player as the transport, unless you use the player's own analog-outs for hi-rez as well.

If you are starting from scratch, don't have a real need for hi-rez or multi-channel playback (ie. an existing library of SACD's or DVD-A's), and want to stay below $1k, then stick with good Redbook playback as your priority. An Apogee Mini-Dac or a Benchmark DAC1 are my two favs under $2k. Two different sound signatures though, so take your pick. The Pioneer can serve as a good transport for either one.

However, if you want/need hi-rez playback, then a modded player will give you noticable improvements over stock, imo. I've had favorable experiences with modded players*. Keep in mind that most modifications focus on the stereo output, with only minor improvements (if any) on the multi-channel output (check carefully with your modder of choice for their specific mods).


(*Full disclosure - I currently own a modded Denon.)

 

[strangelove]

I ended up going with a refurbed Denon 3930CI that I got for about half price. All I can say is that this thing sound magnificent; I'm definitely glad I decided to go for it.

I still haven't decided if I'm going to get it modded or not. I'm pretty happy with how it sounds now and the mod (at least at SACDMods.com) will end up costing me more than the player did. What I would be interested if possible is just getting it modded for balanced outs only. Anyone know if that is possible?