Need sage advice please.

[Orzel]

New member that’s spent significant time doing searches (some quite fruitless) and just reading opinions. Now, here is my problem; We are in the process of upgrading our HT system. First, we are replacing our venerable old Denon AVR 2400 with a new Denon 3805 as the basis for the system and replacing our Hitachi 57” projection (57SWX20B) with most likely a Hitachi 55HDS52 Plasma. I haven’t been able to find many reviews about the Hitachi Plasma, but what little is out there appears to be very good. I would greatly appreciate this forums opinion on the TV.

We are also looking for a good multi-disc (5 or 6 discs) DVD player that is compatible with the Denon, and the general system. So far all I’ve found that is highly rated is an Onkyo, I believe 702P series that seems to fit the bill. I’ve been offered a Denon 1815 multi-disc player, but have read some reviews that were less than stellar in regards to reliability – opinions would be greatly appreciated and helpful.

Balance of system consists of: Polk Audio RT800i Tower Speakers as fronts, Klipsch KG 5 Speakers (As rear speakers for surround sound), Energy EC200 Center Speaker, Polk audio PSW250 Sub Woofer, Sony CDPCX255 200 Disc CD Changer/Player, Sony SLV575UC VCR (old but a great VCR by any standards), Sony DVD Player DVP-C670D, Sony PS-LX150H Turntable (hey some of us still have vinyls).

Help from this venerable Forum would really be appreciated.

 

[t3031999]

I own the Onkyo DV-SP502 (single disc dvd/sacd player) and it is very solidly built and performs quite well, So I highly recommend the Onkyo brand for dvd players.
I don't really like changers, but that's just my opinion, But if I were going to get one I would either get that one (or the 802), or look into the Sony ES line of changers.

 

[Orzel]

DVD Choice

Thanks for the response, I'm leaning towards the Onkyo and will do some more research on the Sony.

Any thoughts on the Hitachi Plasma v. other brands?

 

[xboxweasel]

The one thing to consider with changers is...
because a lot of players read CD, MP3, WMA, DIXV, DVD-V, DVD-A,SACD, etc they tend to be slow changing disks.

For movies I prefer a single disk DVD player. Whether it supports DVD-A and SACD is another matter. For my CD enjoyment I want a 5 disk changer that plays nothing but. It's quicker flipping disks and getting to the playback. Non of this..."let me see what disk I got. MP3? Nope! WMA? Nope. etc etc. All crap.

 

[Orzel]

Thanks!

Xbox, Agree with what you stated, but we already have an existing 200 CD changer which is going to be integrated into the new system. In addition, I have a significant collection of music on my computer hard drive whicwe are able to play through our existing system. What I'm after (OK, what the wife wants) is a DVD changer so that we can load up movies (single and dual disc) and be able to kick back and just watch without having to eject and reload constantly. We have quite the DVD library, including the full Winds of War, and War and Remembrance series, Band of Brothers, All the Bond vids, Horatio Hornblower, and several other “sets”. Anyway, that’s why I’m looking at the DVD changer in lieu of a single play unit.

 

[aarond]

you may want to read this before purchasing the onkyo http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=&manufacturer=3&maxprice=1000&deInt=0&mpeg=0

 

[Orzel]

DVD Changer

aarond,

Thanks for the info, crap! Now, what DVD changer should I be looking at? Every time I think that I have resolved one issue, another comes up to bite me. Back to studying specs and reviews I guess.

 

[t3031999]

I wouldn't make your judgement on the Onkyo 702 simply because the 802 scored poorly on alot of things.
Onkyo's equipment various greatly among different models (i.e. not using any similar chips)
So the 702 MAY be much better at some of those things.
I say may because I really don't know what parts the 702 has in it.