Progressive scan/multi-disc players? (1 Viewer)

Hey guys, anyone have any suggestions as to the best all around Progressive scan DVD's with a 5-Disc changer? I am looking at the following models: Denon DVM-4800, Harman Kardon DVD-50, JVC XV-FA90, and Pioneer DV-C36. Any suggestions on these or any others? I would really like the 5 Disc option. Thx in advance.
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Louis, since there's an existing thread discussing progressive scan players, I've edited your thread title to make it clear that you're interested specifically in multi-disc units.
M.

I recently purchased the marantz vc5200 and im very impressed. The audio quality is great and the picture is amazing. It does all the the standard mp3 / vcd / dvd audio as well as progressive scan. It is a 5 disk changer. I upgraded from a sony S330 and my picture is at least %50 better.

Got mine for $640 out the door.

I have the DV-C36 Pioneer Elite. It is not a "true" PS DVD changer, as it doesn't have any 3:2 pulldown cababilities. The picture is decent, but not on the level of some reasonable PS players. The changer feature is okay for DVD's, but more so for CD's. I don't know much about the other players.

If you are looking for GOOD video performance, I would look at some of the other players. As far as reliability, the DV-C36 has been rock-solid.

I'll second the JVC. Absolutely wonderful video quality(on my 65" Mitsubishi), DVD-A sounds amazing on my mid-fi (Denon 2802 & SVS & BMW-600 series) system, scaling capability(I have actually watched several 4:3 letterbox discs and only found out later that they weren't anamorphic), seven disc changer, and I got it for under $200 bucks.

rin

Do not consider the HK DVD50. I have that and its horrible. It required 2 firmware updates already and is still flaky.

What about the Kenwood 5 disc progressive?

I can strongly recommend the Kenwood changer. It's model number DV-5700. I've had one since June 02. It's one of the only players that I found that did random play (of CD's) across all 5 discs. The vidio quality is very good. Noticably better than the Panny RP91 that it replaced. Of the 10 or so different DVD players that I've owned or borrowed the 5700 has just about the best picture quality I've seen. It was beaten out by the Denon 9000 but at over $3k I'd certainly expect that. It does have a couple of very minor annoyances. It's slow to change between discs and the layer change can be a bit slow on some discs. I haven't figured that one out yet, why some but not all?

That said I'm selling mine. I can hear you asking "why?" Well a couple of reasons... 1st, I've bought an AudioTron and ripped all of my CDs to MP3. That eliminates the need for a changer of any kind. 2nd, I've got a universal player coming (Yamaha DVD-S2300) because I really want to try out SACD. Truth is if I had space in my entertainment center to add a stand-alone SACD player I'd keep the Kenwood. I just KNOW that I'm going to be disappointed with the video of the Yammy.

Life is full of compromises...

Oh yea... It's listed over at audiogon.

Any reason the Panny CP-72 is not included in your list? It's got superb progressive video output, and DVD audio as well. Changer performance is fine, though a bit slow to initially load a disc. Will do random play across all five disks. All in all a fine player.

The CP-72 isn't easy to find anymore.

I have the Onkyo DV-CP500, which is a 5 disc, progressive scan player. Although, I don't use the Progressive scan feature, because my RPTV provides a much more film-like picture without it it turned on.

I'm subscribing to this thread because I've got the same question. I'm looking for a progressive scan DVD changer with auto scaling. DVD-Audio would be great, but not necessary. I've heard great things from the Panny CP72, but can't find it in stock anywhere. Same with the JVC mentioned here. Any suggestions on places to buy?

Pieter

I have the HK DVD-50 and have been VERY happy with it. I recently got it at a close out for $450 canadian. When I first used it, it was a little buggy but upon loading the most recent firmware, it worked flawlessly. It has a really nice picture and fantastic audio reproduction (sounds great on MP3's as well). MP3 file names are on screen and it supports ID3 tags. It also does HDCD decoding which is nice.

I realize that this unit did get a lot of bad press as a result of firmware problems, but as far as I can tell it is now fixed. It is a nicely built player, with no chroma bug. I am not too thrilled with the remote as it only controls the DVD player (would have liked TV controls as well) but overall the remote isn't brutal. I also have a Panasonic DVD-RP91 and although the DVD50 is not nearly as tweakable I like it as much as the RP91 in many ways.

I also note that HK was really fast in getting the firmware out to me when I phoned and asked for it. They sent it by courier and it came about 3 days later.

Hope this info helps

Regards

Omega

The CP-72 is still in stock at Crutchfield.com for $229, an authorized dealer, w/ a $30 rebate if bought before 3/31.

I just sent mine back Wed because I did not like the clunky, confusing platter mechanism so check their 'scratch & dent' list as it was in perfect shape.

Bill,

I did just that yesterday, the player should arrive Monday! I've been reading about the horizontal shifting problem the player has over AVS forums, so I'm a bit concerned. Did you happen to notice it during your brief encounter with the player?

No picture issues whatsoever with it... it was excellent (I ended up going the Denon 1600).

I currently have a JVC XV-F85GD.

It's a decent player, and I like it because it plays SVCD's.

Recently I noticed something weird though.

When I play VCD's and SVCD's, it seems that the default picture is actually the original video zoomed in about 5-10%. I didn't notice it until tested an SVCD with subtitles that were at the bottom of the screen, and they were slightly cut off. I know there's nothing wrong with the SVCD's because if I zoom out, I see the whole video and nothing is cut off of the picture. Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me? And any suggestions on what to do? Thanks!

Got the panny in yesterday and it is B-eautiful! This is my fourth DVD player ever and I am always shocked that the picture quality improves each time (for the record I've had a Sony 3000 ['97], Pioneer 434 ['01], JVC 65GD ['02] and now the Panasonic ['03]). The biggest thing I've noticed is the picture is so much smoother, yet more detailed. Basically it highlights what I see as differences between video and film. Color is held together much better (it always seemed like the reds and greens were on the verge of blooming with my other players) and blacks seem blacker.

Those are the important things I've noticed so far. I just wanted to share since this is one of the threads that helped me make my latest purchasing decision. Thanks to all involved,

Pieter