[flohmann]

Now that Toshiba has thrown in the towel on HD-DVD, I expect we'll be seeing some amazing close-out deals on HD-DVD players. Anyone have any ideas about the *audio* quality of these players (either as source or transports)?

In particular, since these will probably be priced down in Oppo territory, any thoughts on whether they might edge the mighty Oppo?

 

[frankR]

Too bad about HD-DVD, but the format war needed to end, so I'll move on.

I have a Toshiba HD-A2. I use the analog outputs into M-Audio BX5a monitors. It sounds good. Although it's hard to give a thorough evaluation because my set-up hardly qualifies as hi-fi.

A good search on the HD-A2 DACs yeild a AVS forum hit:
HD-A2 as CD player versus 'real' CD player - AVS Forum

Quote:

The A1, XA1, and XA2 use Burr-Brown PCM-1755 DACS, which are exceptionally good. My A1 beats out the California Audio Labs CD player I used to rely on. The A2 and A20 use Analog Devices DACS, which are not quite as good. I'm not sure what the third generation models use. Your dealer was only partially right, since some Toshiba HD DVD players have amazing audio components.

From that post it sounds like if you can get the highend XA models super cheap they would make for good 2-channel analog CD/DVD-A players.

 

[flohmann]

Thanks, good to know. I'll keep my eyes open for good deals on the Burr-Brown equipped players.