Newbie needs help!

[Bunny]

I am currently upgrading my audio/hometheater system and one of the dvd players recommended is the Denon 3910, which has gotten great reviews. My problem is that I am hesitant to spend up to 1500 on a player which will probably have its technology superceded after the high definition standard is set for dvds. Is there an alternative that will give me great music sound and good-enough dvd quality with a lower price tag? It just seems foolish to spend this just as everything is moving in a new direction.

 

[Doug917]

Check out the 2910. It is less than alf the price and still has many of the same features and great performance.

 

[Bunny]

Thank you. Are there any other brands that might be comparable, or is Denon the benchmark against which all the rest are measured?

 

[Ivanhoe]

I have owned Sony, Philips, Toshiba, Yamaha, and three Marantz DVD players, I now own a Denon DVD-2200 which has by far the best picture in terms of picture quality. Added plus... the layer change is inperceptable!
The 2910 replaced the 2200.

 

[Nick250]

I am currently upgrading my audio/hometheater system and one of the dvd players recommended is the Denon 3910, which has gotten great reviews. My problem is that I am hesitant to spend up to 1500 on a player which will probably have its technology superceded after the high definition standard is set for dvds. Is there an alternative that will give me great music sound and good-enough dvd quality with a lower price tag? It just seems foolish to spend this just as everything is moving in a new direction.

It depends on whether or not you are sending an analog signal or digital signal from the DVD/CD player to your receiver/amp. If you are sending a digital signal then there is no need spend over $200 because you are only sending ones and zeros to the receiver/amp and there is nothing to be improved upon. Zeros and ones are zeros and ones and that's the end of it. Now, if you are sending an analog signal to the reciever/amp then are more considerations, like the DACs in the DVD/CD player. That being said, even if you are sending the analog signal the importance of DVD/CD player is so down near the bottom of things that effect your sound in your home that it is hardly worth talking about. Speakers and room acoustics are 99% of what makes the sound good, bad or in between.

IMHO, YMMV yadda, yadd

 

[Bunny]

Nick250,

When is an analog signal sent? Almost everything is now digital, isn't it? And are you talking about audio signal or video signal? I'm so new that your post is a little hard for me to understand.

 

[JVC]

Bunny........
Denons have issues with a lot of dvd-r discs. If you have a lot of dvd-r movies, you may want to consider something else. Denon is a great piece of equipment, but the dvd-r problem would keep me from buying one of their players, unless they work the problem out. A friend has a Denon 2200, and he's not able to play most of my dvd-r discs. My Pioneer plays them all, without a problem.
Good luck!

 

[Nick250]

Nick250,

When is an analog signal sent? Almost everything is now digital, isn't it? And are you talking about audio signal or video signal? I'm so new that your post is a little hard for me to understand.

I was talking about audio when I made my comments, but they apply to video as well. But now that we are on the subject the same comments I made about audio apply to video as well. It is crazy to spend over $200 for a DVD player. The technology is mature and well understood and there simply is nothing they can do make a $1000 DVD player sound any better than a $200 DVD player other than the potential placebo effect. Speaker choice is what one needs to pay attention to, everything else is window dressing and snake oil that adds to the audio dealers bottom line and gains you nothing.

 

[nm2285]

Look into some Yamaha models too. They're cheaper, are respected for their audio performance, and some come with the Faroudja DCDi chip which should make for very nice picture quality. I think the DV-6770 may be one to check out? I know audioadvisor.com sells them.

 

[matthewraz]

digital vs. analog

Nick250,

When is an analog signal sent? Almost everything is now digital, isn't it? And are you talking about audio signal or video signal? I'm so new that your post is a little hard for me to understand.

bunny - the answer - dvd players can be hooked up to digital receivers (modern home theatre receivers) 2 basic ways - analog and digital (rca outs from dvd are analog - optical, coaxial are digital). dac's (digital analog converters) are used to create sounds and pictures out of the 0's and 1's. so you are deciding to use the players dac's (analog out) or the receiver's dac's (digital out-called using the player as a "transport") - in which case the quality of the picture and sound is a lot less reliant on the player.
i use an old 2-channel receiver with my new yamaha-c750 (also called 6770) cd/dvd/sacd/dvd-a 5-disk changer mostly for music - its great and is less than $300 amer.
(btw. - sacd and dvd-a need to be connected analog)