Yamaha DVD players...the lowdown

[Johnny Canuck]

Hello

so i tried 3 Yamaha DVD players in the past month.

DVD S657, S-1500, and the C-750.

All had advantages over the other. The 1500 had better bass management, no DIVx, was $500 CAD.

The c 750 had a cheap door that seemed to have difficulties opening and closing. It would not play HDCD without little pops and clicks. No dual layer. $380

The S657 is the one. It is the c750 in a single player. Add dual layer, and an Audio direct switch. And it's $150 cheaper at $229. All the specs of the highly acclaimed c750 with even better Dynamic range anf s/N ratio if that matters. It has a black enhancer like the 750. Played all discs flawlessly and was not picky with fingerprints/scratches like the others.

I also tried the new Pioneer 588. A total POS in comparison to any of these units. Cheap Cheap Cheap.

Serious folks, the Yamaha DVD S 657 is the new king of middle of the road DVD players. As I said it is the C750 but in a single player and cheaper. It's not yet readily available. When it is, seriously consider it in your search.

JC

 

[dloweman]

Will definately keep that in mind. I am looking to get one in that price range sometime in the next few months. I am waiting for the Oppo review here first. The 3 in the running so far are Oppo(199US), Panny 77(299Can), and the yammie(229Can)

 

[Johnny Canuck]

The Oppo looks excellent but no SACD or DVD A. The Panny won't play SACD. if you want these formats, the Yammie is the way to go. And it has awesome picture. Read the review of the C750. same machine. Somebody said the S657 was the "made in China equivalent". Well trust me, I had both here and they both are made in China. The 657 is this year's technology and DVD players change yearly big time.

One complaint, albeit a small one: no sharpness control. However, picture is sharp anyways for the most part..

JC

 

[mardelgo]

I have the DV-S5860 (108 MHz/12-bit, 192 kHz/24-bit, SACD and DVD-Audio $229) that I think is the same as the DVD-S657 (I don’t understand why Yamaha always has 2 names for the same hardware), and I extremely happy with the performance. My last player was a Panasonic DVD-F87 changer and the audio and video of this Yamaha is better. Now I use progressive output with the player to my Infocus 4805 projector, because it looks better (sharper, and more vivid colors) and that was a nice surprise because this projector use Faroudja. A pic with the cover off:

 

[dloweman]

Some good points johnny, but doesn't the oppo have dvda ? it says on there website it does, and it has the inputs on the back for it. I will check them out much thoroughly when the time and money comes.

 

[Nomo]

I'm still kinda waiting out the Blue ray/ HD DVD thing, (Probably not for much longer) but if I were looking to replace my aging Toshiba player right now, I'd easily go with the Yamaha 657. For the price, very impressive.

 

[RLA]

HI All
Have to agree, I have installed a few 657's they are better than the 750
With no user interface quirks sonically they are very similar.I was glad to see Yamaha build this player based on the success of the 750

I think the 750 is at the end of its life cycle but it was a heck of a player for the money when it first started shipping

 

[Claudio]

Hello Johnny,
What can you tell us about the bass management capabilities of the 657 compared, for example, with the 1500, when playing DVD-A and SACD's?
I'm VERY interested on this feature, as I'm ready to buy the 657.

Thank you,
Claudio.

Hello

so i tried 3 Yamaha DVD players in the past month.

DVD S657, S-1500, and the C-750.

All had advantages over the other. The 1500 had better bass management, no DIVx, was $500 CAD.

The c 750 had a cheap door that seemed to have difficulties opening and closing. It would not play HDCD without little pops and clicks. No dual layer. $380

The S657 is the one. It is the c750 in a single player. Add dual layer, and an Audio direct switch. And it's $150 cheaper at $229. All the specs of the highly acclaimed c750 with even better Dynamic range anf s/N ratio if that matters. It has a black enhancer like the 750. Played all discs flawlessly and was not picky with fingerprints/scratches like the others.

I also tried the new Pioneer 588. A total POS in comparison to any of these units. Cheap Cheap Cheap.

Serious folks, the Yamaha DVD S 657 is the new king of middle of the road DVD players. As I said it is the C750 but in a single player and cheaper. It's not yet readily available. When it is, seriously consider it in your search.

JC

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Claudio:

the bass management in the 1500 is better. It has crossover control , only for SACD though. However, the 1500 has so many issues. The on screen controls are very confusing. The picture settings don't work using component connections (WTF???) but it did have sharpness control. The 1500 I had crapped out the day I was taking it back. I had made up my mind and then it just crapped out, picture started rolling. It has gold connections in the back, like the 750. I would have to say the SQ might be a tad better with the 1500 but it's not worth twice the cash as the 657.

the 657 is just like the 750. you have distance , delay and size for speakers. Download the manuals of both and you will see they are identical. Once I saw that, i was sold. the 750 got rave reviews. the 657 is even better.

 

[Claudio]

Thank you Johnny for your input.
Another question: Have you experimented any issues with the 657 such as low volume from the sub while playing DVD-A or SACD, that it's BM settings could not fix?

Regards,
Claudio.

 

[dloweman]

johnny,
was wondering...would you get a better picture from a dvd player with a digital output as opposed to just component out?

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I don't know the answer to that. i would imagine digital. I still have a tube TV. My comparisons are audio first, then video. Picture wise on my TV, they all look great. But, the Pioneer model was nowhere near the Yamaha's. Not in the same league.

So the comparisons continue. I am finding the analog output on the S 657 way too bright. The crossover must be different, or as Ray said, the outputs are louder. I have to turn the subwoofer volume up to 4 on the DVD player to get the same punch as the C 750 at 0. I have ordered a C750 from yamaha as the demo model I had had issues with the tray. The audio with movies may be a tad better with the 657 , the rears seem to be a little louder/clearer, but with tweaking I think the C750 may be as good.

Sorry guys. I can't make up my mind. I will compare them side by side this time. All I know is my DVD Audio of Doors LA Woman and SACD of Dire Straits Brothers in Arms sounded MUCH better with the C750.

Can anyone give me some input as to why this would be even though the specs look identical?

 

[kcarlile]

Dvd-c950?

I know it's sort of off topic, but anyone know anything about the DVD-C950? And what does the 750 not doing dual layer mean? I had thought that dual layer was a standard feature on DVDs.

Thanks
--the newbie.

 

[greenhill]

New s657 owner! Question please.

Just picked up a DVD-S657 from my local Yamaha dealer.... and am very happy with it so far... I'm not hooked up via analog yet just optical to my Yammy RX-V757.. and component out to my TV....
a couple questions to you other S657 owners... Just bought it last Friday and have been listening and watching various DVD's and CD's....audio and video absolutey awesome!! I have noticed that it did misbehave when loading random DVD's and CD's.... this is not consistant however... sometimes I would load a disk and the Player would make funny sounds (spinning fast, clicking..) and just say "loading" on the display.... I usually just Open Tray and reload and it works just fine..... these are Normal DVD's and CD's too, not CD-R's or DVD-r's or MP3's or anything weird..... like i said it is not consistant even with the same discs.... just wandering if anyone else has experienced this, or maybe i have a lemon.... just want to know, so I can exchange it for another one within my 30 days...... thanks.

 

[greenhill]

anothter Question....

sorry, I have another Question for other S657 owners.... when I am playing movie DVD's in DD or DTS, I noticed at the bottom of the display on the s657 says "Multi-channel" and "d.mix" Like i said in my previous post, I am only connected via Audio Optical to my Reciever (rx-v757)..... my reciever is working fine and picks up the DD or DTS signal with no problems..... But why is the "d.mix" indicated on the display???? Is everybody elses "on" while playing movies??? According to the manual, "multi channel" and "d.mix" are an analog thing..... why is this ON when using Fiber Optics???? .... I can't find in any of the setup options a way to Turn OFF Down mixing....

thanks in advance... any information would be greatly appreciated.
greenhill.

 

[shokhead]

C950 is a bit more but better then those. I had the 750 and only paid $299.

 

[JPW]

There's a glowing review of this player by the Brit's at http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=6255
It sounds like the new bargan player.

 

[jcPanny]

Other Yamaha models

Great info on the new Yamahas.
Do any of you have experience with the C6760 or C6770 models? I would like a decent DVD player that will also work well as a 5 CD changer.

 

[zoran]

I would recomment C950, universal, with HDMI, DCDI and DIVX!

 

[jaxvon]

Johnny, what was your beef with the Pioneer player? I have the predecessor and have had no issues with it.