Tuberoller
Divorced an Orpheus to keep his wife.
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2001
- Posts
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I just purchased the Philips DVD 963A after the same six week longer than expected wait that all of us endured.It has been playing constantly since Wednesday afternoon allowing for about 90 hours of burn-in time before my impressions for this review were formed.I auditioned this player with the help of my Father,who also provided several digital sources for comparison.
The review system:
Source: Philips DVD963A
Amplification:Antique Soundlabs Tulip 2A3 Tube amp(used as a single stereo).Tubes are Sovtek 2A3s.
Preamp:Synthesis Harmony Dual Mono Tube high gain.With stock JJ telsa 12AU7.
Loudspeakers
SB Image 7PT
Headamp #1:Wheatfield HA2-CBS 5692 Brownbase input tube,JAN 6080 Output,Sovtek 5AU4G rectifier.
Headamp/power amp #2:Fisher 400,complete restoration and circuit upgrades(details available on request)Used to power all phones.
Headphones:Senn HD600 w/Equinox,Grado RS1,AKG K1000 w/Equinox.
Interconnects:Acoustic Zen WOW!.Used throughout system.
Power cords are all Quail 12/3 hospital grade in 6 foot length
Comparison sources:
#1:Revox E-46 -This is the same unit used at the Chicago fall meet.It has the factory upsampling/oversampling and power supply Upgrades.
#2:Cary 306/200-Cary's mid-line upsampling player.
#3:Arcam CD92-This is the only Arcam I have left over,direct comparisons to the CD72 were not possible at this time.
#4hilips SACD1000-Philips former top-of-the-line player.thanks Musicdirect for the loaner.
#5:Sony DVP-NS900V-I also borrowed this from Musicdirect,to compare video performance as well as SACD playback.
#6:Musical Fidelity A324 Upsampling DAC
#7:MSB Link III with Upsampling and power supply upgrades
#8:Marantz SA-14 SACD player-yeah,the same one that I can't give away.
Music:
I selected music most of us are familar with so descriptions of performances on specific passages can be referenced.
Miles Davis"Kind Of Blue"
Nora Jones "Come Away With Me"
Rolling Stones "Let It Bleed"-ABKO HYBRID reissue.
Micheal Jackson "Off The Wall" -Don't laugh,this is a killer demo disc with super hi-fidelity.This is an even better 24 bit remaster from last year.
I also listened to some music that I play a lot and that is in my current music rotation.
I want to believe the hype which I in some ways helped fuel.I can admit to hoping this player was all that was promised.I was also hoping the bait-and-switch was not pulled on me by the Philips rep.This player is not the same as the one he demo'ed for us last October.It is lighter, looks a little different,has a completely different remote,and has those cool blue LEDs.Fortunately it sounds as good as when I first heard it.
I already commented on my dissatisfactions with the build quality in a previous thread.Those impressions still hold true.I suppose Philips decided the build was secondary to the sound and cosmectics.The player is indeed pretty,not as nice looking as the all-black Arcam,the Stout looking SACD1000,or the Jewel-like Marantz but nicer looking than most players in this price range.I think Philips could have helped the perceptions of quality by maybe specifiying a more sturdy cabinet.The supplied cabinet is flimsy and unstable which seems to aid in the transmission of vibrations to the transport.The remote is pretty much full-featured, lacking only a disc eject button,though it is very cheesy looking.The player sits on nice looking stainless finished feet that provide no vibration damping.The display provides all disc info and playback status.The Disc Text function is slow but seems to read most discs.The player takes about 7 seconds to read a disc and decide what it is.This is the very first player I have ever encountered that read every format of digital disc I have attempted to play.It even reads VCD discs and MP3s.I am also not at all happy about the single pair of two-channel audio outputs.There is another pair provided for video connections but the sound quality suffers noteably when using those.The player also features an "Audio Direct" function,which is activated only by a front panel mounted button lit by yet another blue LED.This funtion provided very noticable increases in fidelity by shutting down the video circuits.The transport on the 963 is one of the best I have seen and was best of the bunch here by a large margin.I originally thought the transport was noisey but those noises seemed to be due to the lack of chassis isolation.The drawer is a very nice plastic unit that is study and fast moving.My earlier look inside the chassis revealed that the transport is very well supported and has two drive mechansisms.This is the first transport I have ever seen with that feature.All disc functions are adjustable via the remote and front panel displays, but can be tricky.
When I first connected the player I immeditately heard the benefits of upsampling.As it has burned-in my love for upsampling has only been reinforced.Upsampling is most certainly the best thing to ever happen to Redbook digital.My first impressions of the redbook playback were of an expansive soundstage and super sharp focus and detail.The 963 seems better able to extract the intricate treble detail of the most demanding music.This is the most incredible aspect of the 963's playback.It is amazing how it can do this without sounding harsh in the least bit.The Treble performance is the one thing this player does better than any other player or DAC here.Cymbals sound lifelike and each strike is full bodied and accurate.The treble is lightening fast and very articulate.There is no blurring,smearing or splashiness(to use all the applicable audiophile cliches at once
).The 963 gets the treble perfect.It was perfect on every disc,with every amp and with every phone and the loudspeakers.I am highly impressed.The closest competition was the Revox,which has accuracy as good as the 963 but not the extension.The MF DAC had the extension but smeared cymbal strikes all over the rear wall.None of the other players/DACs even came close.The SACD treble detail was even more extended and really laid the wood to the other SACD players.The true strength of the 963 is here,in the upper frequency extensions.It is alone at the top.
To my ears the strength of upsampling has always been in the midrange.The best upsampling players seem to make even mediocre amp/preamplification sound great.This is not always a good thing,but one that I can live with.The midrange of the 963 is right there with the best I have heard to date.The big deal with My Dad's Revox E-46 has always been the incredibly liquid and beautiful midrange.It is simply the most amazing digital I have heard in this respect.It is as close to analog as I have heard.Nope,the 963 does not sound as good,but that is a lofty goal.The 963 sits behind the Revox in terms of soundstage accuarcy and depth.It has excellent stage placement,making each instrument and vocal performer sound as if they are standing right where they are supposed to be.On the Miles disc "Blue into Green"sounds amazing with all the players here,but the Revox,the 963 and the Arcam stand out as those with the best midrange focus.The one fault of the 963 in the midrange is a slight "forwardness" of the already prominent instrument or voice in some passages.On Miles' "So What" each solo seems as if the musician took a big step to the mike,when we all know that is not the case on this recording.This trait is a bit less evident on the headphones but is very apparent with the loudspeakers and is at least noticable with the K1000s.It's not bad but will make already forward sounding electronics sound much too midrange biased.This was never more of a problem than when using the Fisher to drive the HD600.The midrange actually overtook the frequency to the point of slightly drowning out the treble detail.When I switched off the upsampling things seemed to balance out with that amp/phone combo.The "audio direct" function seemed to affect the midrange of the 963 most.When it was not switched on the midrange lost much of it's depth and the soundstage narrowed significantly.Use the button.The midrange is also where I think the Benefits of SACD are most evident.In SACD mode the 963 clearly spanks all the other SACD players here.The midrange is still not as sweet as the Revox but is so nice it really does sound damned near analog.That's hard for me to admit,but I feel it to be true.
In the bass department the 963 gets beat up a little by the other players here.It cannot match the earth shaking bass of the Arcam or the tight,focused bass of the Revox.The bass of the 963 is fast and controlled but does not go to the nether regions like the MF DAC.Maybe this will improve with further burn-in.The 963 takes the big bass of the Micheal Jackson disc and reproduces it with very good accuracy but I know it is not all there,I have heard how it sounds on vinyl and I know something is missing.To the credit of the 963,no digital rig has yet been able to reproduce bass as well as analog,but my hopes were still high.The bass performance did not seem to be much of an issue with the other recordings and was not a big deal with the Grado and Senn phones when driven by the Fisher.The AKG didn't like the slight of bass but it wasn't unbearable.There was very good detail in the bass with the 963 on SACD,with instrument seperation being excellent,right there with the SACD1000.Bass notes were distinct and occupied their own space and place.The bass was still not super low but it did improve some on SACD playback.I will give burn-in and maybe some chassis islolation and power cord upgrades a try to see if the bass gets better.Don't misunderstand,the bass is great,just not as deep as some other digital rigs I have heard.
I want to add some comments about DVD picture playback if you guys don't mind.I have two Toshiba players with Progressive scan and the Sony NS500 and NS900v players to compare.The 963 blows everything I have yet seen right out of the water.The other players are not even in the same league.Color,detail,resolution, everything is just incredible.If you bought a 963 just for DVD playback you would not be doing yourself a disservice.The picture is just incredible and looks amazing on all my TV sets.As good as the audio playback is,the video playback is that much better.I'm just floored.The leap forward is huge.
There you have it.The Philips DVD963A has seen the hype and lived up to it.The Video playback is the best I have seen by a huge,almost incredible margin,and the audio playback is excellent and has lowered the cost of true audiophile digital down to level of the average listener.If I have to establish a finishing order it would look like this.
#1 Revox E-46-simply on the strength of the midrange and bass.Everyone who heard it at the fall meet will back me on this one.Not bad for $5,900.00
#2 Philips DVD963A-Does so many things so well and does the upper frequencies better than any other digital rig.Bravo!!!!!!
#3 MF A324 DAC-It's probably the best affordable DAC ever made gets upshot by a $500 combo player....the shame.Not really,this is a great DAC and the price of $1200 is no indicator of the great performances this DAC is capable of.
#4 Arcam CD92-Makes it this far due to the most awesome bass on the planet and an overall great performance on Redbook digital.The soon to be released upsampling upgrades should make this player nearly unbeatable.This is the best non-upsampling player I have heard.
#5 Philips SACD1000-This is a great SACD player but redbook playback seems to be average at best.It was overpriced at $2000.00 and was possibly a good deal at $1,000 but the stupid transport seems out of place here.
#6 Sony DVPNS900- Good Redbook and very good SACD playback kept it alive among the sharks.
#7 MSB Link III-this DAC never Really grew on me and it is the only upsampling DAC I really don't care for at all.All The MSB products are in need of a redesign.
#8 Cary 306/200-what can I say? I am so disappointed with the Cary digital products.They get the soundstage all wrong and are not dynamic at all.It seems they are designed for low-volume playback on flabby old-school tube gear.BTW,The 308 was traded for this player by my dad a few weeks ago.It (the 308)actually sounded better.
#9 Marantz SA-14-what a POS.Every time I look at this player my ******* hurts,cause I think of how much I spent on this thing.
As always,these opinions are those of the author, your mileage may vary,objects in mirror are closer than they appear,equal opportunity employer and all that other stuff.
Edited to add link to Pictures of Philips DVD963A
The review system:
Source: Philips DVD963A
Amplification:Antique Soundlabs Tulip 2A3 Tube amp(used as a single stereo).Tubes are Sovtek 2A3s.
Preamp:Synthesis Harmony Dual Mono Tube high gain.With stock JJ telsa 12AU7.
Loudspeakers
SB Image 7PTHeadamp #1:Wheatfield HA2-CBS 5692 Brownbase input tube,JAN 6080 Output,Sovtek 5AU4G rectifier.
Headamp/power amp #2:Fisher 400,complete restoration and circuit upgrades(details available on request)Used to power all phones.
Headphones:Senn HD600 w/Equinox,Grado RS1,AKG K1000 w/Equinox.
Interconnects:Acoustic Zen WOW!.Used throughout system.
Power cords are all Quail 12/3 hospital grade in 6 foot length
Comparison sources:
#1:Revox E-46 -This is the same unit used at the Chicago fall meet.It has the factory upsampling/oversampling and power supply Upgrades.
#2:Cary 306/200-Cary's mid-line upsampling player.
#3:Arcam CD92-This is the only Arcam I have left over,direct comparisons to the CD72 were not possible at this time.
#4
hilips SACD1000-Philips former top-of-the-line player.thanks Musicdirect for the loaner.#5:Sony DVP-NS900V-I also borrowed this from Musicdirect,to compare video performance as well as SACD playback.
#6:Musical Fidelity A324 Upsampling DAC
#7:MSB Link III with Upsampling and power supply upgrades
#8:Marantz SA-14 SACD player-yeah,the same one that I can't give away.
Music:
I selected music most of us are familar with so descriptions of performances on specific passages can be referenced.
Miles Davis"Kind Of Blue"
Nora Jones "Come Away With Me"
Rolling Stones "Let It Bleed"-ABKO HYBRID reissue.
Micheal Jackson "Off The Wall" -Don't laugh,this is a killer demo disc with super hi-fidelity.This is an even better 24 bit remaster from last year.
I also listened to some music that I play a lot and that is in my current music rotation.
I want to believe the hype which I in some ways helped fuel.I can admit to hoping this player was all that was promised.I was also hoping the bait-and-switch was not pulled on me by the Philips rep.This player is not the same as the one he demo'ed for us last October.It is lighter, looks a little different,has a completely different remote,and has those cool blue LEDs.Fortunately it sounds as good as when I first heard it.
I already commented on my dissatisfactions with the build quality in a previous thread.Those impressions still hold true.I suppose Philips decided the build was secondary to the sound and cosmectics.The player is indeed pretty,not as nice looking as the all-black Arcam,the Stout looking SACD1000,or the Jewel-like Marantz but nicer looking than most players in this price range.I think Philips could have helped the perceptions of quality by maybe specifiying a more sturdy cabinet.The supplied cabinet is flimsy and unstable which seems to aid in the transmission of vibrations to the transport.The remote is pretty much full-featured, lacking only a disc eject button,though it is very cheesy looking.The player sits on nice looking stainless finished feet that provide no vibration damping.The display provides all disc info and playback status.The Disc Text function is slow but seems to read most discs.The player takes about 7 seconds to read a disc and decide what it is.This is the very first player I have ever encountered that read every format of digital disc I have attempted to play.It even reads VCD discs and MP3s.I am also not at all happy about the single pair of two-channel audio outputs.There is another pair provided for video connections but the sound quality suffers noteably when using those.The player also features an "Audio Direct" function,which is activated only by a front panel mounted button lit by yet another blue LED.This funtion provided very noticable increases in fidelity by shutting down the video circuits.The transport on the 963 is one of the best I have seen and was best of the bunch here by a large margin.I originally thought the transport was noisey but those noises seemed to be due to the lack of chassis isolation.The drawer is a very nice plastic unit that is study and fast moving.My earlier look inside the chassis revealed that the transport is very well supported and has two drive mechansisms.This is the first transport I have ever seen with that feature.All disc functions are adjustable via the remote and front panel displays, but can be tricky.
When I first connected the player I immeditately heard the benefits of upsampling.As it has burned-in my love for upsampling has only been reinforced.Upsampling is most certainly the best thing to ever happen to Redbook digital.My first impressions of the redbook playback were of an expansive soundstage and super sharp focus and detail.The 963 seems better able to extract the intricate treble detail of the most demanding music.This is the most incredible aspect of the 963's playback.It is amazing how it can do this without sounding harsh in the least bit.The Treble performance is the one thing this player does better than any other player or DAC here.Cymbals sound lifelike and each strike is full bodied and accurate.The treble is lightening fast and very articulate.There is no blurring,smearing or splashiness(to use all the applicable audiophile cliches at once
To my ears the strength of upsampling has always been in the midrange.The best upsampling players seem to make even mediocre amp/preamplification sound great.This is not always a good thing,but one that I can live with.The midrange of the 963 is right there with the best I have heard to date.The big deal with My Dad's Revox E-46 has always been the incredibly liquid and beautiful midrange.It is simply the most amazing digital I have heard in this respect.It is as close to analog as I have heard.Nope,the 963 does not sound as good,but that is a lofty goal.The 963 sits behind the Revox in terms of soundstage accuarcy and depth.It has excellent stage placement,making each instrument and vocal performer sound as if they are standing right where they are supposed to be.On the Miles disc "Blue into Green"sounds amazing with all the players here,but the Revox,the 963 and the Arcam stand out as those with the best midrange focus.The one fault of the 963 in the midrange is a slight "forwardness" of the already prominent instrument or voice in some passages.On Miles' "So What" each solo seems as if the musician took a big step to the mike,when we all know that is not the case on this recording.This trait is a bit less evident on the headphones but is very apparent with the loudspeakers and is at least noticable with the K1000s.It's not bad but will make already forward sounding electronics sound much too midrange biased.This was never more of a problem than when using the Fisher to drive the HD600.The midrange actually overtook the frequency to the point of slightly drowning out the treble detail.When I switched off the upsampling things seemed to balance out with that amp/phone combo.The "audio direct" function seemed to affect the midrange of the 963 most.When it was not switched on the midrange lost much of it's depth and the soundstage narrowed significantly.Use the button.The midrange is also where I think the Benefits of SACD are most evident.In SACD mode the 963 clearly spanks all the other SACD players here.The midrange is still not as sweet as the Revox but is so nice it really does sound damned near analog.That's hard for me to admit,but I feel it to be true.
In the bass department the 963 gets beat up a little by the other players here.It cannot match the earth shaking bass of the Arcam or the tight,focused bass of the Revox.The bass of the 963 is fast and controlled but does not go to the nether regions like the MF DAC.Maybe this will improve with further burn-in.The 963 takes the big bass of the Micheal Jackson disc and reproduces it with very good accuracy but I know it is not all there,I have heard how it sounds on vinyl and I know something is missing.To the credit of the 963,no digital rig has yet been able to reproduce bass as well as analog,but my hopes were still high.The bass performance did not seem to be much of an issue with the other recordings and was not a big deal with the Grado and Senn phones when driven by the Fisher.The AKG didn't like the slight of bass but it wasn't unbearable.There was very good detail in the bass with the 963 on SACD,with instrument seperation being excellent,right there with the SACD1000.Bass notes were distinct and occupied their own space and place.The bass was still not super low but it did improve some on SACD playback.I will give burn-in and maybe some chassis islolation and power cord upgrades a try to see if the bass gets better.Don't misunderstand,the bass is great,just not as deep as some other digital rigs I have heard.
I want to add some comments about DVD picture playback if you guys don't mind.I have two Toshiba players with Progressive scan and the Sony NS500 and NS900v players to compare.The 963 blows everything I have yet seen right out of the water.The other players are not even in the same league.Color,detail,resolution, everything is just incredible.If you bought a 963 just for DVD playback you would not be doing yourself a disservice.The picture is just incredible and looks amazing on all my TV sets.As good as the audio playback is,the video playback is that much better.I'm just floored.The leap forward is huge.
There you have it.The Philips DVD963A has seen the hype and lived up to it.The Video playback is the best I have seen by a huge,almost incredible margin,and the audio playback is excellent and has lowered the cost of true audiophile digital down to level of the average listener.If I have to establish a finishing order it would look like this.
#1 Revox E-46-simply on the strength of the midrange and bass.Everyone who heard it at the fall meet will back me on this one.Not bad for $5,900.00
#2 Philips DVD963A-Does so many things so well and does the upper frequencies better than any other digital rig.Bravo!!!!!!
#3 MF A324 DAC-It's probably the best affordable DAC ever made gets upshot by a $500 combo player....the shame.Not really,this is a great DAC and the price of $1200 is no indicator of the great performances this DAC is capable of.
#4 Arcam CD92-Makes it this far due to the most awesome bass on the planet and an overall great performance on Redbook digital.The soon to be released upsampling upgrades should make this player nearly unbeatable.This is the best non-upsampling player I have heard.
#5 Philips SACD1000-This is a great SACD player but redbook playback seems to be average at best.It was overpriced at $2000.00 and was possibly a good deal at $1,000 but the stupid transport seems out of place here.
#6 Sony DVPNS900- Good Redbook and very good SACD playback kept it alive among the sharks.
#7 MSB Link III-this DAC never Really grew on me and it is the only upsampling DAC I really don't care for at all.All The MSB products are in need of a redesign.
#8 Cary 306/200-what can I say? I am so disappointed with the Cary digital products.They get the soundstage all wrong and are not dynamic at all.It seems they are designed for low-volume playback on flabby old-school tube gear.BTW,The 308 was traded for this player by my dad a few weeks ago.It (the 308)actually sounded better.
#9 Marantz SA-14-what a POS.Every time I look at this player my ******* hurts,cause I think of how much I spent on this thing.
As always,these opinions are those of the author, your mileage may vary,objects in mirror are closer than they appear,equal opportunity employer and all that other stuff.
Edited to add link to Pictures of Philips DVD963A
