Suggestions Please for Good Universal/DVD HDMI Player @ $500 - 800

[elrod-tom]

I'm trying to help out a buddy of mine who is looking for a new universal player to use for both audio and HD-TV viewing.

He wants something with video upsampling, good hi-rez audio, an HDMI port, and so on. He'll be using it in his main stereo rig, which has good solid equipment throughout (B&W speakers, Marantz receiver, did have a nice Sony SACD player (it's one of the lower-fi models that get modded a lot) too, so he's a guy who appreciates good sonics. It's got to be a very solid redbook CD player too. Finally, he's on a bit of a budget, and wants to spend somewhere between $500 and 800.

I've really not kept up with what's out there, but I recommended to him the Pioneer Elite DV79Ai. We've both had very good luck with Pioneer Elite gear, I've heard very good things about this player, and he did like that idea. However, full list is $1200, which probably makes "street price" a bit more than he'd like to spend. He will check around and see, however.

Does anyone have any good suggestions??

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by elrod-tom I'm trying to help out a buddy of mine who is looking for a new universal player to use for both audio and HD-TV viewing. He wants something with video upsampling, good hi-rez audio, an HDMI port, and so on. He'll be using it in his main stereo rig, which has good solid equipment throughout (B&W speakers, Marantz receiver, did have a nice Sony SACD player (it's one of the lower-fi models that get modded a lot) too, so he's a guy who appreciates good sonics. It's got to be a very solid redbook CD player too. Finally, he's on a bit of a budget, and wants to spend somewhere between $500 and 800. I've really not kept up with what's out there, but I recommended to him the Pioneer Elite DV79Ai. We've both had very good luck with Pioneer Elite gear, I've heard very good things about this player, and he did like that idea. However, full list is $1200, which probably makes "street price" a bit more than he'd like to spend. He will check around and see, however. Does anyone have any good suggestions??

For visuals, nothing can beat the Toshiba A1 HDDVD player..But if he's looking more for great audio, the PE DV79ai looks to be a good match..

 

[purk]

Quote:

Pioneer Elite DV79Ai.

From what I understand the DV59Ai supposed to have better picture. You might want to look into the DV59Ai istead. If you can afford a used Denon 3910, you shouldn't be disappointed.

 

[sschell]

I've read good things about players from Oppo.

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sschell I've read good things about players from Oppo.

I got the DV-970HD last week and am quite pleased with it. $150! (I hate having to keep mentioning that I just moved but) via speakers I've suffered very sub-par sound with until yesterday untreated walls, so I'm limited in my opinion of the Oppo. I thought the video performance was first rate (I'm not a videophile), SACD and DVD-A sounded pretty good, CD seemed OK (stand alone and as a transport for a DAC1). The transport is faster and much quieter than the also inexpensive Pioneer it replaced. The tray seems frightfully fragile but look may be deceiving. $150!

EDIT: I just remembered. I thought it odd that skipping back to the start of a song on a SACD had one land at the start of the previous song. That observation reminded me that I had read that some found a flaw where gaps were heard between tracks that are joined. I didn't get around to tossing on DSOTM to hear if that was the case with mine. A firmware fix may be downloadable.

 

[nfusion770]

I have had the Oppo OPDV971H for about a year. I am also not a videophile but it looks stunning on my 37" budget hd lcd and certainly is reviewed as such. Its also $200. The tray is very flimsy and the remote is asinine, but otherwise I am very pleased.

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfusion770 I have had the Oppo OPDV971H for about a year. I am also not a videophile but it looks stunning on my 37" budget hd lcd and certainly is reviewed as such. Its also $200. The tray is very flimsy and the remote is asinine, but otherwise I am very pleased.

I think the 971 is more of a video machine than the 970 which is more audio focused (SACD, HDCD, DVD-A). I like it's remote, which may be partially because I quite disliked the remote of my previous player. I like that it has an 'Audio Only' button which turns off all video processes. I like that 'Play/Pause' and 'Stop' are red while all other buttons are black; easy to find even when unfamiliar. Those are small common sense things I appreciate. From the video angle I liked the 'HDMI' button letting me cycle through the resolutions without having to go through some infernal maze of menus!

OK, I just tried DSOTM and it put gaps between the tracks...bugger. I just downloaded the firmware update and will follow the instructions later. That's convenient! The Pioneer wouldn't play my Neil Young DVD-A discs and a trip to the dealer was required for the update...I never made it there. I also realized I don't like that I can't see remaining time of a track or disc. I've got that same problem with my turntable.

EDIT: UPDATE- Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeteeth I got the DV-970HD CD seemed OK

I got some treatment on the walls now and can hear again!
CD has a number of veils compared to the DAC1 and is quite a bit flat as in 2D. But it isn't bright or aggressive either. I'd describe it as dull.