Best DVD/SACD/DVD-A player under 600$

[pam]

<font color='#000000'>Hi

I can get a Denon DVD-2200 for 480$ (from an unauthorized internet vendor). I think this is pretty good.

Anyone has a better DVD player to recommend for similar money?</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#8D38C9'>I don't know of anything better for the money. &nbsp;I paid full retail (well, 10% off 'cause I buy a lot of stuff there!

). &nbsp;IMOHO, the '2200 rocks bigtime. You get a lot of great sound for $600, and it's a great CD player, too.

I've heard some impressive things about the APL-modded Pioneer 563; some say it smokes anything up to $2500. &nbsp;I dunno, haven't heard it yet but Alex obviously knows his shite. &nbsp;The modded player is about $675, or $550 if you provide the player. &nbsp;I'd like to give it a try eventually but I'm loving my Denon too much to mess with it right now.</font>

 

[Mudcat]

<font color='#000000'>I have the Pioneer 45A. &nbsp;I only compared it to the 563. &nbsp;But the salesboy at the local Tweeter (whom I hopefully turned on to this site after he went on spewing manufacturers retoric about cables) couldn't see spending the extra couple of hundred quid for the Denon (which he also sold - he also wasn't sure the difference should be spent on the 45A over the 563). &nbsp;They did not sell the 563 (there is a Best But about 1/2 mile away). &nbsp;I will be the first to admit that the listening test was very flawed. &nbsp;The 563 at BB was connected through a Sony to little teeny weeny itsibitsi KLH cubes, and the 45A was hooked up to a Yamaha RX-V2400 and Mirage speakers.</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#8D38C9'>I also had the DV-45A. &nbsp;It was a nice player for sure, and the picture was very nice. &nbsp;Still, after A/B'ing it against my Denon, I sold the Pioneer. &nbsp;My thinking was to move it to my bedroom system but it was a bit of overkill for that!

The Denon sounds better both on DVD-A/SACD and CD, at least to me. &nbsp;I had them both in my system at the same time, and I preferred the Denon. &nbsp;Video wise it was closer, although the Denon's trump card is the 8 MB memory buffer- it stores video info so that when it hits the a layer change it plays from memory while the transport aquires the 2nd layer. &nbsp;Voila! &nbsp;No pause/freeze at all- I've not yet been able to detect the layer switch with the Denon where it was obvious with the Pioneer.

The Elite has great warrranty, 2 years is super. &nbsp;And it's been bulletproof in my experience. &nbsp;Still a good player, but not up the the level of the DVD-2200. &nbsp;One last bonus of the Denon is the superb digital bass management. &nbsp;I had to use external X-overs with the Pioneer as it lacks any hi rez bass management.</font>

 

[jeffsg4mac]

<font color='#000000'>I &nbsp;can vouch for the Denon 2200 as well, I love mine. Picture and sound quality are stunning. Best $600 I ever spent, except for my Kimber .45 auto

</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#8D38C9'>A Kimber for $600!? &nbsp;Did you buy it from a white van?

</font>

 

[RLA]

<font color='#000000'>please have a look at this
http://www.audioholics.com/showcas....em.html

&nbsp;
RLA</font>

 

[Audioholics]

<font color='#000080'>Yamaha is releasing a new DVD-S1500 ($399) Affordable Universal DVD-Audio/SACD with DCDi progressive scan. Might be worth a look.

We'll have someone review it shortly.</font>

 

[pam]

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>

Rob Babcock : <font color='#000000'>I've heard some impressive things about the APL-modded Pioneer 563; some say it smokes anything up to $2500.  I dunno, haven't heard it yet but Alex obviously knows his shite.</font>

<font color='#000000'>Where can you get info about APL-modded 563?

Who is Alex?

Thanks</font>

 

[Mudcat]

<font color='#000000'>[One last bonus of the Denon is the superb digital bass management.  I had to use external X-overs with the Pioneer as it lacks any hi rez bass management]

That may be where the difference lays[sic].  My main front (A&amp;B and L&amp;R) speakers are routed through an active crossover into several amps.

But I also missed the general direction of Pams question which is beating the Denon overall, not just on price.</font>

 

[jeffsg4mac]

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>

Rob Babcock : <font color='#000000'>A Kimber for $600!?  Did you buy it from a white van?

</font>

<font color='#000000'>LOL, no it was a used Custom II I got for $575.00, Looked like it had never been fired though, not a scratch or wear mark anywhere

</font>

 

[pam]

<font color='#000000'><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>

Rob Babcock : I've heard some impressive things about the APL-modded Pioneer 563; some say it smokes anything up to $2500.  I dunno, haven't heard it yet but Alex obviously knows his shite.  The modded player is about $675, or $550 if you provide the player.

If some one can go to the presentation of APL Modded DVD players may be we can get some more information from this.

BTW Rob, may be you could bring your Denon to compare it.</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#8D38C9'>'Fraid I'm on the wrong side of the country for that!

&nbsp; I'm towards the middle part...really would like to hear his work, though.

I can't remember his website address and I can't spell his last name!

&nbsp; Think it's Alex Peychev? &nbsp;I link him from Audiocircle.com, and he just started his own forum there.

BTW, nice score on the Kimber!

</font>

 

[pam]

<font color='#000000'>yes. His site is aplhifi.comaplhifi.com</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#8D38C9'>I just got the new TAS today- they run most of the available Hi Res players. &nbsp;In it they raved the DVD-2200, and they felt it sounded better than the DVD-2900! &nbsp;They felt it really had no weakness or flaws for the price and competed very favorably with the performance of the other machines in the price range (about $1000 or less) including the Sony &amp; Philips machines.</font>