Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Denon 2900 or 2910?

Guys,
Just a quick question. A few online retailers continue to stock the Denon 2900 (quantities limited?). I heard that the video processing engine on this player is very good. I believe the successor model (2910) has DVI/HDMI inputs, but the decoding engine is not as good?

I wanted to buy a universal DVD player that would work well with my Denon 3910 and M80 system. Which one would you recommend? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks very much.

Ananth

you might try doing a search, I believe Vegasvic compared both of these models thoroughly on a recent thread. If I am not mistaken the 2910 is an upconverting player that will take 480i or 480p and upconvert to 720p or 1080i via DVI or HDMI. I don't believe the 2900 does upconverting, however, if I recall, Vegasvic thought the 2900 had a better picture just via progressive scan. Mileage may vary depending on who you talk to...I would also recommend checking out http://www.avsforum.com as there have been many threads regarding both of these players...

Randy

The 2910 uses a newer faroudja chip that has the ``macroblocking bug'' which, depending on your display, varies from unnoticable to unwatchable. The AVS forum has tons of discussions regarding this issue.

Sirquack/Haanhvu,
Thanks -- I'll check on avsforum. I tried to search in the Axiom HT forum for '2900', but wasn't successful in locating pertinent hits, hence my post

Appreciate it.
Ananth

Ananth,

There's some recent info here

Ananth, if you look search on the AVS forum and look at the link that Ajax provided, you will find a wealth of information.

The 2900 has a smooth/film-like (still sharp), almost 3D picture with vibrant colors and the picture "pops" out. The 2910/3910 have a sharp, less vibrant picture that looks more 2 dimensional.

Unfortunately, this whole thing wil be greatly influenced by 1) the TV you have, 2) your ability to adjust the DVD player into the approporiate settings and 3) the most important thing, similar to audio - your eyes and my eyes see different things when looking at the same pictuer. It really ends up being pretty subjective.

I did the A/B thing on the 2900 / 2910 and the 2900 was a no brainer choice. Coach2369 did the same A/B and after much switching back & forth, he chose the 2910 (by a whisker??). Cime in here Coach.

Frankly, Crutchfield has the 2900 at a price where you can commit Grand Theft DVD Player. I'd steer you to this unit because it uses the Silicon Image chip, but your eyes will need to speak to you.

Not sure if I helped, but please do the research. Also - try and find somewere you can do the A/B thing.

In reply to:

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Crutchfield has the 2900 at a price where you can commit Grand Theft DVD Player

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Where are you seeing this? I've looked on their site under Denon items, scratch & dent, and the outlet.

Wow - looks like they finally ran out of them for the holidays. Sorry - they were there last week. Might be worthwhile to check in their Outlet store over the next 2-3 weeks for any holiday returns. Also, ecost is a pretty good source for refurb units (authorized Denon etailer).

My local Magnolia Hi-fi had their open box 2900 available for $500. I'd check your local shops. You should be able to get a 2900 for under $600 nearly anywhere. (since it's a discontinued model)

I went back and forth on the 2910 and the 2900. I ended up liking the picture on the 2910 better via the DVI input. I just had my Hitachi 57t500 ISF calibrated last week and I am enjoying the picture quaility I am getting. I just wish I would have had waited until my TV was done before I did the comparisons. But oh well!
I think it comes down to what you like when you watch your system, not what people tell you is good and bad...:)