Well Folks,
I had stopped posting issues with my Crutchfield Outlet Bargain Denon 2900 because I got the feeling I was boring everyone to DEATH! (Certainly NOT your issue! It was all me!)
Ray was a great help off line, and I Finally got someone at Audioholics to point me in the right direction. One of their moderators, Rob, did not quite hit the nail on the head, but he got me to the right spot nonetheless.

I hope that this post might help someone else out there, or someone else down the line who encounters this problem.

The issue with the SECOND unit that I took home was that it was not recognizing DVD-A discs. Or, more accurately, it was not recognizing the DVD-A signal from DVD-A discs.
It would play the Dolby Digital portion, and the Video portion, but it would not play, nor even offer up the option in the playback menu, for the DVD-A Audio portion of the disc. And no matter what DVD-A disc I put in, the DVD-A light at the left side of the player would never light up.
Until this morning I was resigned to sending the unit back to Denon for repair.
But, after a note from Rob at Audioholics I decided to take one last trip through the set-up process, and the manual.
He suggested that I make sure that the 2900 was set up to recognize Hi-Rez sources.
So after paging through the manual and the set-up menus I got to the "ECT" page in the menu, and the "Audio / Video" choice.
When I got the unit home, this option was set to "Video".
I assumed that this was the default setting, and that the unit would switch to Audio when a DVD-A, SACD, or RBCD was inserted. With it set to "Video" the machine would recognize SACD's, and play them fine, as well as RBCD's. I assumed the same would be so for DVD-A's.
Well, as it turns out, this setting is for toggling between the AUDIO and VIDEO material on DVD-A Discs!
(You really have to read carefully in the Denon manual to realize this, and there was NO mention of this setting in the "Audio Set-up Tips" paper that I downloaded from Denon!)
It has nothing to do with the type of media that you want it to default to.
With that setting on "Audio", the 2900 is now very happily recognizing DVD-A discs, and is now playing everything beautifully!
What a difference!
I have found that I actually like the plain stereo track better than the multi-channel track, and since I obviously have to use the multi-channel outputs/inputs for the Hi-Rez DVD-A I have to say that the DACs in the Denon are indeed everything they have been touted as. To My Ears, this is indeed one serious player!
With the exception of now having to calibrate the Denon for DVD output, (I have used the Yamaha auto / mic thing, and to my ears it did a fantastic job) I think I am Finally where I hoped I would be with this system a couple of weeks ago.
The Denon is (NOW!)easily the best player that I have ever owned for DVD & Redbook CD, the DVD-A and SACD is a major Gas- (this is the first system I have had that is capable of this. ***And just a side note to those who might be shying away from the SACD / DVD-A format because they might think that they are not interested in the multi-channel playback format- If you are at all interested in the best option for 2 Channel Stereo Playback, you have to hear what this stuff is capable of reproducing in 2 Channel Stero. Leaps Beyond regular RBCD quality!***)
The Yamaha 2500 is, (surprising to me since I REALLY loved my old RX-V2092) quite a bit beyond that 2092 for pure musical & (obviously) movie ability.
And the Yamaha DVD-C750 is staggeringly close to the 2900 (on RBCD and DVD's - I have not yet tried it for multi-channel playback) for the $$$. Even if you just buy this player to use as a 5 Disc CD player and DVD player and forget about the multi-channel option, you will have yourself one heckuva player.
And yes, then there are the Axioms!
They are what got this whole thing started in the first place, and they are just STUPID GOOD!
Wow!
FINALLY!
I am one Happy Guy!
Thanks to everyone out there who contributed their time and advice.
Tom

Not boring at all Seabear. This is good information for users who might run into the same problem with the denon 2900.

Tom - you didn't know that???



That's GREAT news. I just copied the info to my 2900 fact sheet for future reference.

Yeah! I can't wait to see what you don't tell me about that MX7Gazillionsomething or other Remote that I am going to order on Saturday morning when the Sweetie goes to work!
Heh, Heh, Heh...
Tom

Yeah really, you didn't know that? lol If you like stereo only listening, have you played with the Pure Direct modes at all? They might be up your alley.

I have, and while I would love to tell you that I can hear a big difference, I have to say that I cannot. Maybe a little more depth. It does sound fantastic, but I think the whole thing sounds great anyway. I'm going to sit down and blindfold myself one day soon and get my Sweetheart to toggle back and forth without knowing which mode it is in and see if I can tell the difference that way. I do think it is cool though that you can use it when using the M/C inputs, so that you are using the DACs in the Denon, which I CAN hear sound better on 2 ch. music from the Denon.
What I do like though, is that I have that option, as well as my treasured DSP's - once again, not all are usefull to me, but the ones that I like, I really like. For playback of live music, some of them are terrific.
Now all I have to do is sit down and do some adjusting of the delays and speaker levels when in the DSP's to get those set just right. I hope that this new one will save individual settings for each DSP like my old 2092 would, but I have yet to get that far into the manual.
Gotta Love New Toys!

I have been playing with Pure Direct....and psychologically, it is fantastic!!

I do wish you could set the mode via remote control rather than the switch on the unit...it would make A/Bing much easier.

"I have been playing with Pure Direct....and psychologically, it is fantastic!!"
Yeah, in a dark room, that blue light is just Too Cool for it NOT to sound BETTER in pure direct mode!
And that is just too important a button to be controlled by the remote.
;-)

hehehehe

My pre/pro also has a Pure Direct mode.....so I wonder if that means I get a double pure sound when I use them both....

Curtis, explain the Pure Direct Mode to me will ya. Do you use in when playing a multichannel disc, or for redbook, or for movies? What?

Pure Direct on the 2900 allows you to turn off the digital, video, and display outputs, thus theoretically, there will be less that might interfer with the analog audio circuit.

It works on all modes....multichannel disc, redbook, and movies. Obviously for movies...you do not want to turn off the video output....but you can.....likewise for digital if your receiver or pre/pro is processing the digital signal.

There are two presets memories, and each allows your to set a combination of what circuits you want turned off.

Right now, I only have one mode configured......I have digital, video, and display all turned off. I use this mode for listening to music. You can't even tell the 2900 is on.

On my Sherwood Newcastle P-965 pre/pro, Pure Direct mode shutsdown digital bass management for two channel listening. There is an analog 80Hz filter if there is a subwoofer and the speakers are set to small. So in this case, there is less digital processing of the signal.

Thanks, Curtis. I guess I understood it. Because I have not been able to sense an audible difference on my 2910 using the Pure Direct mode, I thought maybe I was doing something wrong. I'll have to keep experimenting.

Oh....I don't know if I can hear a difference either....that is why I said it is "psychologically" great.

LOL! Well what the hell are we having this discussion for. Who wrote this script?

Gee, and I thought we got this started on the Yamaha "Pure Direct" button!
It has one too.
(I'll bet you were wondering about that blue button I was talking about)
So if I set the Pure Direct on the Denon, and then use the Pure Direct on the Yamaha, is that DPD? (Double Pure Direct!)
S**t, for that kind of resolution I probably won't even need the Axioms, Huh?
It'll just sort of flow into my brain right out of the Reciever! Maybe I can just hold the CD up to my forehead like The Great Karnack...

I thought you were talking about the little blue light on the 2900 when a SACD or DVD-A disc is playing.