Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater choosing a dvd player

Hi all,
Everyone here has been so helpful in pointing me in the right direction. My next purchase is a new DVD player. In you opinion what do you consider the top three DVD players on the market under $400. If there is a Dvd player over $400 that you like is it worth spending extra on it.
Thanks,

Denon's line of DVD players seem to be the standard by which most others are compared these days.

The DVD-2900 has been universally hailed as a really great player. It plays back pretty much any disc you throw at it. CD, DVD, SACD, DVD-A, as well as all your bootlegged burned cd's and dvd's. Original MSRP was $1000, but you can usually find one for under $600 through Ecost & Dakmart (refurbs) or used on audiogon.com

The Oppo has been being called a giant killer in the video quality department. (As long as you use the digital outputs (DVI or HDMI). At only $200 you could afford to use the Oppo as your dvd player for it's superior video quality, and still afford a stand alone cd/sacd player for audio.

Have you checked out HometheaterHifi's website which has a shootout of just about every DVD player out there? Link

For anything under $400 I would recommend either the Oppo OPDV971H or the Panasonic S97. I currently own the Oppo as well as some other members including Ajax while Sirquack and others own the Panasonic and love em. Both are fine choices and if you want the VERY best then go for the Denons which are pricey. Other owners love the Denons and swear by them but they were out of my budget.

You might investigate the Denon DVD-1920.

SACD
DVD-A
HDMI ouput
CD/CD-R/CD-RW Playback
DVD-R/RW Video
DVD+R/RW Video
DCDi™ by Faroudja Progressive Scan Decoding Engine
Burr-Brown Audio DACs

It can be had for as little as $299 plus shipping at etronics.com

I love my Panasonic S97S HDMI upconverting DVD player. If you have a HD television or projector capable of 720p or 1080i, DVD's upconverted (scaled) to the higher resolutions are better than 480p. You will have to have an HDMI or DVI port...

DVD technology is a mature technology these days. Therefore, the differences are going to be mostly in the feature set and the decoders. for $400, any player you get will perform oustandingly. I think that the DVD player you choose should depend on your needs.

For example, do you have an HDTV with DVI? If so, consider an upconverting DVD player. That is, unless you find the decoders in the TV are top notch and you want to use them. In that case, any old 480i player will do - your TV's superior electronics will de-interlace your 480i image, convert it to 720p (or whatever) and display it - that is all the upconverting players do - they convert the signal to match that of your display (hopefully). Both sets of electronics are prone to error. But both sets are going to do the same thing. It is just a matter of when, in the chain, you want to convert the signal.

Therefore, unless you're really into SACD or burned DVDs (which are still fairly rare - and which should still play on most newer DVD players), I wouldn't blow a ton on a player.

Quality must be taken into account - but assuming decent connections which aren't causing audio pops and fuzzy video, consider going with a recognized name-brand in a 1 or 5 disc carousel and be done with it.

I agree with Capn Pickard, however, one feature set I'd look for is individual DACS for each of the output channels instead of a single DAC for all. Marantz has some very nice players at reasonable prices, so does Pioneer. I don't think the Pannys have individual DACS, but I am a fan of Panasonic products and their quality/value ratio.

I also like Sony products for sound quality, but, if you're into high resolution audio formats, you won't get DVD Audio from Sony, just SACD.

I have a pioneer. I hate it.

It's not one of their top dvd players by any means, but I still hate it. Slow as #$#@%.

I will be using a Denon 3805. With all the talk about HDMI and DVI is the best way to wire my equipment going to be component cable from cable box and dvd player to receiver then to the TV?
Thanks

Well since you have a 3805 then all component could be routed through it but if you get a dvd player with DVI or HDMI it will have to be directly connected to the tv.

For instance, my Oppo has video processing via the DVI and not to the component. In most of the reviews for the Oppo they highly recommend using the DVI port. With my old setup, everything was component which was all connected to the Denon. In my new setup the Oppo has a direct DVI -> HDMI connection to the tv while everything else (sat and old dvd) are component to receiver.

Unless you get the new 3806 or 4806 which have HDMI switching, you should use a direct connection to the tv for video if you chose to purchase a DVI/HDMI player.