[aos]

I was just reading about what's inside this Philips 963A player, and realized that it uses AD1895 - second best upsampling chip at the moment, by a small margin, and AD1955 - best spec'd DAC chip available right now. Even some of the opamps look impressive. I guess this is part of the explanation why people are so impressed with it and why it trumps many of the more expensive players and stand-alone DACs. I heard a lot about this player but haven't realized until now what's inside. This is going to be a really tall order to outdo this player for a reasonable cost, given that it uses some of the best parts available right now. It is of course possible to tweak the power supply quite a bit and try perhaps a different line amp but nothing that would warrant a quantum leap in quality. I'm just amazed that they sell it for only US$400 (or was list price $499?).

Now I want one too...

 

[Tuberoller]

The Philips rep swears that the 963 is the least profitable DVD player they make.He also swears that the SACD 1000 was the most profitable product they made based on the margins.He said the writing was on the wall and resting on previous success is a sure way to creamed by a cheaper competition.He said that Philips really wanted to kill the market at the low end and promises no one can do it better for cheaper.I think he is very optimistic but so far he's right.He says there are some other Philips products on the way that will offer the same cost to performance ratio.I think he is referring to the new Plasma HDTV sets but I'm not sure.

 

[aos]

I don't doubt that it's their least profitable player. They decided to kill the competition at "low end" by designing the player with some of the best parts available (and certainly expensive too)? That doesn't leave much room for high end to differentiate (i.e. high end now needs to do some real engineering instead of just picking the next part up the chain, put a few stones inside a nice metal box to further increase weight and then slap the double sticker price). I guess from consumer's perspective that's good news! However Philips has some strange perceptions, they don't have any market presence in consumer electronics in Canada. Most companies that don't consider opening Canadian division let the US division handle our market, clumsy as that usually turns out, in order to have the world covered, but Philips just plain cuts us out. Yet they sell clothing irons and coffee makers.

 

[TimSchirmer]

does the 963A sound better than the SACD-1000?

 

[radrd]

Quote:

does the 963A sound better than the SACD-1000?

Good question. My gut instinct is yes, but I would like to read a comparison.

 

[Gopher]

Quote:

Originally posted by TimSchirmer does the 963A sound better than the SACD-1000?

there seems to be mixed opinions on that one. Having talked to a few fellow head-fiers such as G-Tecx, its become apparent that there are quite a few who perfer the sound of the 1000 for both redbook and sacd.

I've yet to see an argument over picture quality though

 

[TimSchirmer]

I ask because there seem to be quite a few SACD-1000's that can be had used for around the same price as a new 963A.

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally posted by aos However Philips has some strange perceptions, they don't have any market presence in consumer electronics in Canada. Most companies that don't consider opening Canadian division let the US division handle our market, clumsy as that usually turns out, in order to have the world covered, but Philips just plain cuts us out. Yet they sell clothing irons and coffee makers.

I've been trying to find how much they sell for in Canada without much luck. This explains a lot. I now know that I'll have to look in the states for one if I can ever save up the cash.

 

[JMedeiros]

Quote:

Originally posted by aos I'm just amazed that they sell it for only US$400 (or was list price $499?). Now I want one too...

you can get one for $360 at J&R

not that I am trying to be a wallet enabler or anything....

 

[MagusG]

Quote:

Originally posted by JMedeiros you can get one for $360 at J&R not that I am trying to be a wallet enabler or anything....

Haha, I want a 963SA, how about someone enable my wallet with a little cash, say about $360 or so.
-Mag

 

[Chinchy]

Does anyone know how the 963SA compares to similar products such as Denon's DVD-2900 that also does DVD-audio, or Yamaha's DVD-S2300?

 

[aos]

$360 is great price. It's tought to even DIY something comparable as the parts alone will cost close to what they want, and then it's still only 2 channel and no SACD or DVD. That's why I am so amazed at the 963A (assuming it sounds as good as people say, which I have no reason to doubt looking at what's inside) - the cost is reasonable.

However I just bought airconditioner and there is a looong list of stuff I'd like to have more than this. Since I started to pay mortage instead of rent my disposable income got cut in half so it takes a lot of time to buy anything. I'm an impulsive buyer but things need to be put in perspective... I bought several headphones within a few months two years ago but really only use HD-580 if I use them at all. After all I already have a DVD player and modded SACD player and a good DAC, not to mention that I'll build an upsampling DAC with the same chip anyway. I have to practice patience... Not a virtue that a typical HeadFier posesses but such are the times.

 

[OriginalReaper]

Woohoo! I'm getting mine in a month.

Meta42 maxed
963SA
HTB505 (cuz I still lack surround sound =\)

Now if only I could find good music on SACD...

 

[Dwagun]

Those of us in Canada - have a bit of patience...I believe that Philips has realized that Canada is as good a market as any - I believe we should start seeing Philips products in Canada soon - specially since sony at least doubles their prices when coming to Canada - we should also have better competition between the major players

FWIW, I just picked up a Philips 19 inch monitor - excellent monitor and great price and 4 year warranty so I think they are coming here - amazing since they had absolutely no market presence in this area a few years ago...

Im hoping that the 963SA makes the trek up north as well (keeping my fingers crossed)...as soon as I spot a 963SA available here I will let you guys know...

 

[aos]

Quote:

specially since sony at least doubles

Maybe not double but I was enraged today to find out the US prices on TG50 Clie handheld I was looking at for some time. Price just dropped here but it dropped in US too and if you do a conversion, it would be as if the exchange rate is 1.62. Wake up Sony, it's 1.36. To add insult to injury there is US$50 mail-in rebate - you guessed it, to US customers only. In Canadian dollars, the total is 410 dollars versus 570. Given the tight integration of these two markets this is completely unacceptable. Now when I'm ready to buy a new handheld I'll consider getting someone else's even if it's inferior. Maybe our government should take up the UK approach and penalize companies that gouge prices here.