John Kotches

Lee,

I'm not Felix, but the RP-91 at introduction had an MSRP of about US$800. It was introduced in 2001 if memory serves me correctly. It can be had for quite a bit less in the used marketplace.

It also happened to be an outstanding overall video performer, dragged down only by the sub-par Genesis deinterlacing solution.

Cheers,

Surround Music Enthusiast / Curmudgeon in Training
Opinions are my own, not representative of the publication I write for.

Felix Martinez

I bought it for about $425 about 2 1/2 years ago. I also have an Onkio universal DVD-A/SACD player, but still use the RP-91 often as its prog scan video performance is better (no chroma bug).

The interlacing performance of the RP-91 was improved along with other refinements with firmware updates, and the only big prob I've had recently was with Universal's The Meaning of Life, which is just a mess, flag-wise and many other players had probs as well playing that disc (BTW the replacement disc that Universal is mailing out still has the poorly-flagged video, but that's another thread in another section).

I'm still amazed, however, by the new Pioneer universal player - forgot the model - that's been selling for approx. $150-$175. I would pick that one up in a heartbeat if one of my players dies.

Cheers,

Felix E. Martinez
My "All-Spin" Zone of fave Blu-ray, DVD-Audio, SACD, and other assorted new media goodies...

Phil A

Lee, last I looked crutchfield.com was blowing out the remaining RP-91s at $300. The Rotel (RDV-1060) is excellent at $900 list price. The video is good and the DVD-Audio is 1st rate, as good as much more expensive players. If you need something with a better picture, the Samsung HD1000 upconverts the 480p to 720p or 1080i via the component outputs but is $1,500.

Lee Scoggins

Thanks John for the comments.



I'm thinking about getting that one from Best Buy just because I have heard so much about it.



I heard the Rotel is superb on DVDA. I also hear the new Adcom is good on DVDA.

Does anyone know if the Pioneer has any shortcoming in terms of user friendliness?

no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
~skateaway

Phil A

Lee, the Rotel is indeed superb on DVD-A. I ran into these comments on the 563 (where there seems to be a decent review with positives and negatives further down the page). Apparently, it still requires one to go into an on-screen menu to select between 2-channel and multi-channel SACD. I have a DV-47A in the bedroom system and besides its so-so SACD playback (which is OK since I have the bedroom connected to other speaker system, outdoor, garage, etc., not for critical listening) and that is the worst thing about it. If I throw on a disc I have to turn on the TV to find out what I left the setting on the last time.

http://www.hometheaterdiscussion.com...&threadid=2382

Doug_B

Out of my 40 or so hi-rez selections, 2/3 are SACD. The mastering seems to be so critical, it's hard to compare. Plus, I don't think my previous DVD-A player (RP-91) was at the same quality level as my SACD player ('C555ES); always thought DVD-A had to be better than what I was hearing. Currently have a 47Ai out for modding (Dan Wright), so maybe future comparisons will have more merit (although it may never be apples to apples).

Doug

My Home Theater Pics - The Pink Room

Lee Scoggins

Let us know how you like that Dan Wright mod...

no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
~skateaway

DaveDickey

The "ease of use" factor between SACD and DVD-A has come up in this thread, so let me offer an opinion. I think that both formats are equally easy to use, depending on your equipment. My universal player (Onkyo DV-SP800) automatically selects DVDA or SACD depending on the disc inserted. When DVDA is inserted the player automatically skips the video portion (where you're supposed to select the format) and automatically plays the disk at 24/96 or whatever the hi-rez mix is. With my old DVDA player (Toshiba SD-4700) I had to turn on the TV and shuffle the video menu when I wanted to play DVDA. Also, the Onkyo automatically plays discs in multi-channel, and if multi-channel is not an option, it plays the disc in stereo. Very convenient. The only time I need to fiddle with the remote is when I play a CD or DTS disc, in which case I must switch from the analog outputs to the optical output. Sorry to get off the thread topic.

Brian+H

How expensive is your Onkyo Dave?

I'm under the impression that most inexpensive players coupled with poorly authored dvd-a's can be very frustrating to use.

I think if/when people in the mainstream take up sacd/dvd-a, the prices will have to come down, and the ease of use will have to be the norm rather than the exception.

Lewis Besze

Selecting between the MC tracks and stereo on SACD is infinitelly easier then on DVD-A regardless of authoring or player[DVD-A].Hell you don't even have to load the disc to it on SACD,all the players I have encountered have a button on the front for that. I disagree,my cheap Panny player did load DVD-As faster,and was easier to start at least the MC tracks then it is on my Denon.

Phil A

Equally easy to use is dependent on whether one likes the multi-channel tracks as well. On 85% or perhaps even a bit more of either DVD-As or SACDs, I prefer the stereo mix. It is also true that not every single piece of SACD hardware makes it easier to use. The Pioneers that I've seen make one go to an on-screen menu to select a default on whether one wants to hear the CD layer of a hybrid, the SACD stereo layer or SACD multi-channel layer. DVD-A could make it a std. to use the authoring software that allows the use of the 'audio' button on the remote to toggle between the mixes and combined with an indicator on the player (so one would know whether the stereo mix was coming from the left and right speaker or just the left and right portions of the multi-channel mix) it could be as user friendly as most SACD players.

DaveDickey

Brian, My Onkyo was $800. I bought it primarily for the audio section, which is very good. I need to correct a mistake I made in my last post... The player only plays multi-channel automatically if multi-channel is selected in the setup menu. It can be set for stereo default as well. Dave