New Universal Players

[SuperGiraffe]

Hey everyone. I am considering a new DVD player, and I was thinking about one of the new, all singing, all dancing, universal players on the market. Specifically, the three that have caught my eye are the new Denon 2900 (can get for $800), the Pioneer 47ai (can get for $700), and the new Marantz 8400 (can get for $1350).

Specifically, has anyone heard any of these players? Would any of these three provide better (or worse) performance on redbook and SACD than my Sony 222ES? Or should I just pick up a separate progressive scan DVD player like the Denon 1600 and keep the 222ES (which I am happy with) and live my life with $500 more in my pocket, and a cluttered rack? Unfortunately, my preamp only has one 5.1 input, so I cannot have separate multichannel SACD and DVD-A players.

Thanks all.

 

[scottpaul_iu]

Buy the Denon 2900, and then sell the Sony player.
I have the Denon, the SACD and DVD-A sound fantastic. The redbook is fairly close to what my Rega Planet 2000 sounds like.

BTW, elrod-tom has the Pioneer player in question and likes it. It sounded great at the Detroit meet.

Tuberoller can give you some very concise/accurate thoughts on this issue as well.

 

[Tuberoller]

I'm still worikng on a shootout of the Marantz,denon and Yamaha but I also want to try the Integra.I'll post some thoughts on the Denon this weekend.

 

[SuperGiraffe]

Thanks for the help guys. A one-box "solution" would be ideal, I think, if it could cut it sonically, so I would be very willing to sell the 222es if one of the universals would cut the mustard.

Tuberoller -- I am looking forward very much to your shootout. I might as well say that in my mid, the Denon is a frontrunner, based on what I've read at other HiFi forums, but I am intrigued by the Marantz as well. The guy at Lyric HiFi (high-end NY store) sells both the Pioneer 47ai and the Marantz 8400, and told me he thought that the Pioneer is better. Unfortunately, they did not have the Marantz on display, so I could not directly compare.

Thanks again . . . anyone else with comments?

 

[tkam]

I have the denon 2900 as well and it really is a great player. I would definetly recommend it to anyone looking for a universal player.

 

[scottpaul_iu]

Best bet is to audition the store demo at your home.

 

[elrod-tom]

The Pioneer is a great box. I really like it a lot, although it does not measure up to my Link Gold III DAC for redbook playback. The SACD and DVD-A playback are terrific...particularly the DVD-A!!

I've also had good luck with Pioneer components, especially CD players. I had a couple for 10+ years with not a problem. So, there's reliability to consider as well.

Let us know what you decide.

 

[Chinchy]

How does the Denon 2900 compare to the venerable Philips 963SA? Or to the Yamaha S2300? I'm also in the process of buying a unit capable of good DVD with good SACD playback...

 

[JaZZ]

Tuberoller...

...I'm eagerly awaiting your review. Hoping to get any clue how the Denon compares to the Yamaha and the 963SA (especially with the latter's SACD playback) as well as to my current redbook benchmark, the (963SA +) Bel Canto DAC2. I hope you don't feel pressed, but... hurry up, man!

 

[Nightfall]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tuberoller I'm still worikng on a shootout of the Marantz,denon and Yamaha but I also want to try the Integra.I'll post some thoughts on the Denon this weekend.

I'm REALLY interested in hearing how the Integra does. Is it already available? I was only aware of the RDV-1 which is a DVD player that does Redbook cd and DVD-A. Is this an update on that one that included SACD? Please keep us posted Fred. Thanks.


JC

 

[SuperGiraffe]

As an interesting note, almost every store I've been to has told me that a different universal player is "the one." Lyric HiFi was keen on the Pioneer 47ai, Cosmophonic and Harvey's played up the Marantz, J&R said I should forget about DVD-A as a format and get the Sony 999ES, and Stereo Exchange's salesman was big on the Lexicon -- whoops, but in my price range was puching the Onkyo/Integra unit over the Marantz. I probably could have gone to Innovative Audio for another opinion, but I've only been to that store once, and I'm not going back.

 

[Nightfall]

Quote:

Originally posted by SuperGiraffe As an interesting note, almost every store I've been to has told me that a different universal player is "the one." Lyric HiFi was keen on the Pioneer 47ai, Cosmophonic and Harvey's played up the Marantz, J&R said I should forget about DVD-A as a format and get the Sony 999ES, and Stereo Exchange's salesman was big on the Lexicon -- whoops, but in my price range was puching the Onkyo/Integra unit over the Marantz. I probably could have gone to Innovative Audio for another opinion, but I've only been to that store once, and I'm not going back.

In my long experience with audio stores, I have found that in almost every case "the one" surprisingly always seems to be what THEY carry! Shocking, isnt it?


JC

 

[markl]

And the one with the biggest margin for the sales guy!

 

[Tuberoller]

I won't be able to do the shootout since the Integra,Marantz and Denon are sold out at most dealers.I'll post my thoughts about the Denon 2900 tonight and how it compares to the Marantz 8400,and Yamaha 2300,which I heard previously.I have been using a very high-end SACD player recently and the side-by-side comparisons with the universal players and the Philips 963 has been very revealing.

 

[Calanctus]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tuberoller I have been using a very high-end SACD player recently and the side-by-side comparisons with the universal players and the Philips 963 has been very revealing.

Now I'm getting really interested. Care to tell us what that player is?