denon won't play slightly scratched dvd

[bencausey]

My one year old denon 2910 froze tonight while playing a slightly scratched dvd. For the heck of it, I popped the dvd into another dvd player, namely, an Apex brand from Walmart. The apex played it perfectly without skipping a beat. Why did this happen? I always assumed that a better player would read a scratched cd or dvd better than a cheapie. By the way, I don't have any problems, other than this one, with the denon - it's been terrific.

Also, should my denon vibrate when playing sacd's and dvd's? (I can feel it vibrating, not see it vibrating). Thanks

 

[shredder]

My 3910 did the same thing with a CD that my old $100 5-disc changer played just fine! It also would make a poping sound on the play-back of some discs that was corrected by opening and closing the tray...... Hmmmmmmm......... I was not able to get a good answer from anybody on that one..

 

[WHALER]

Denon won't play scratched DVD

My guess is: Denon has more safeguards in place than the other less expensive players. I think it is a good idea. DVD could have had gum on it, and if it continued playing it would have destroyed your DENON. If I find a CD or DVD that I really love, I always buy another one as backup.

 

[hifiman]

I seriously doubt that there are safeguards in place on Denon or any other manufacturers units. I think it just reflects on the overall quality of what's being sold today. Anyway, anyone remember back in the day when CD players were king and reviews would post the specs of error tracking? I think it was called something like Pierre Verany test. This test would show the consumer how well a particular unit could correct for errors by showing how big a scratch it could track through. I just don't see that spec ever given anymore. I have a 5-year-old DVD player that is built like a tank and will play anything I put in it. For a day or two I had a Denon 2900 that didn't do nearly as well. Discs that wouldn't play in it played flawlessly on my trusty standby.

 

[bencausey]

are modifications a good idea?

just wanted to say thanks everybody for the input - I guess I may never know exactly why the denon wouldn't play that certain dvd like the cheapie would
On another note...I'm thinking of modifying my denon 2910 - I've found a couple of online companies, but I want to know if any of you guys have advice about modifications in general. These would be audio mods, by the way. Thanks, Ben

 

[ScottMayo]

just wanted to say thanks everybody for the input - I guess I may never know exactly why the denon wouldn't play that certain dvd like the cheapie would
On another note...I'm thinking of modifying my denon 2910 - I've found a couple of online companies, but I want to know if any of you guys have advice about modifications in general. These would be audio mods, by the way. Thanks, Ben

I had my Denon 2900 modified by Modwright. I like the result.

 

[mtrycrafts]

just wanted to say thanks everybody for the input - I guess I may never know exactly why the denon wouldn't play that certain dvd like the cheapie would
On another note...I'm thinking of modifying my denon 2910 - I've found a couple of online companies, but I want to know if any of you guys have advice about modifications in general. These would be audio mods, by the way. Thanks, Ben

Why do you think you need audio modification? What is there about the sound you don't like? How do you know it is the 2910?

 

[bencausey]

why I want mod...

I guess I want the mod(s) because I've read about how it can improve the sound (better imaging, blacker background, etc.) I assume that with better, or higher quality parts inside, the sound would be better. That's why I wanted to know what you guys thought about it. Thanks for asking, Ben

 

[ScottMayo]

I guess I want the mod(s) because I've read about how it can improve the sound (better imaging, blacker background, etc.) I assume that with better, or higher quality parts inside, the sound would be better.

That's not always the case. However, with my Denon 2900, having it modded cleared up the highs a bit.

That said, it's not the first place to spend money - make sure you like your speakers and amp first, and above all make sure the acoustics in your room are decent. It's easy to blow $500 on a mod and get a tiny improvement, when the same $500 on room treatment gives you a whole new acoustic world.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I guess I want the mod(s) because I've read about how it can improve the sound (better imaging, blacker background, etc.) I assume that with better, or higher quality parts inside, the sound would be better. That's why I wanted to know what you guys thought about it. Thanks for asking, Ben

The specs on that are already below your detection threshold. You will not gain anything more unless they make it worse and introduce audible artifacts.

Imaging is an issue with speakers, and what was recorded and how well, period. Les noise is hardly worth the mod cost, even if it is free.
Once you play music, the ears are not very sensitive to noise:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/distortion.html#

This should be an interesting reading on the ability to detect noise and distortion. Modern components are way better than that.

 

[bencausey]

Thanks again for the advice

Thanks for the advice, everybody - this is a great site. One question - if higher quality components don't make that much difference in the sound, then why does the more expensive Denon 3910 sound "better" than the 2910? (I'm speaking of all the countless reviews out there that basically state that about the 3910).