A New DVD Changer (1 Viewer)

[VictorJDeP]

All right fellas, I need some purchasing help. I want to buy a new Progressive Scan DVD changer, 5 disc preferred, and I am completely unsure of what is the best for the money and the quality.

I have always only bought Pioneer, but am open to suggestions on other brands. I have a Mitsu 65 HD, but it is of course (my luck) one made without a DVI connection.

In doing my research on new players, there are so many out there sporting so much, it gets a little confusing.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[JackS]

Unless you already have SACD/DVD-A I'd look for a player that had at least one of these formats. The cost of DVDP's has come down so much in the last year or so that the addition of an extra format is truely minimal. As for brand, I don't think there is an exact answer. For me it would be longivity but, no one really has any ideas here either. Choose a name brand with a reasonable warranty.

 

[Jon_Welker]

Victor,

I would suggest the Yamaha CX1, it is a 5 disc changer with the Faroudja chip, and has Burr-Brown DAC's for cd's. It will also do DVD-A for you. Original retail was around $1K, but now it can be found for

 

[Muhammed]

Before you decide, you should decide what price point you'll be looking at, and also what you primarily want the player to do. Are you looking for the best video quality in your price range, or are hi-res audio formats such as SACD and/or DVD-Audio requirements as well?

The Yamaha mentioned above is an excellent player, an extremely well-built and heavy duty player.

If you mainly want a changer for music, maybe consider buying a great single-disc DVD player for movies (like the Denon 1600 available for a little over $300, and a budget DVD or CD player for music.

I think it all comes down to the price range, and what your requirements for the player are. If you can live without the changer, I think many would agree that your best bet is the Denon 1600.

 

[Phil Tomaskovic]

Sony 555es goes for $450 if you prefer sacd.

 

[VictorJDeP]

Thanks for the info, but I already have a single-disc Progressive Scan DVD Player, 2 actually. I have the Mitsubishi 6040 that came free with my TV, and then the Denon 2900 player I bought a little later.

I just want the best picture and build quality changer available for a decent price. I'm not going to pay $5000 for a DVD changer, but I would like something that has great picture decoding, since it will solely be for DVD viewing.

 

[Phil Tomaskovic]

I've been happy with the 555 es picture so far. 5 disc carousel and remembers bookmarks for 40, I think. SO you can stop a disc, remove it and then put it back later and go back where you left off.

 

[VictorJDeP]

I looked up info on the Sony 555 ES and all I could find was the CD changer. Is that model number correct? On the Sony website the only ES DVD player listed was a single disc.

 

[Phil Tomaskovic]

Sony's site is dreadfully slow to list new items. It is the dvp-nc555es. You can find it on www.oade.com (where I bought it) or www.crutchfield.com (retail price, but they have more pictures and info).

 

[VictorJDeP]

Thanks for the info on the Sony. I looked it up, and it is definitely nice, but for that kinda dough the Pioneer Elite C36 does more for me, although it is not SACD. Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me about the extended audio option.

The bells and whistles on the Sony seem decent, but I didn't see anything about the video repo system (DCDi or Duon), and I really like the buffer on the Denon. I'll miss that.

Hard choice.

 

[Muhammed]

Take Jon's advice, and have a look at the Yamaha CX1. It's been reduced to half of the original price, and it built like a tank (over 20lbs I think). It's using the Faroudja chipset, so picture quality should be more than decent, and it won't have the Chroma bug.

If you're using progressive scan, and video is your primary concern, then try finding something with the Faroudja chipset. I'm not sure about the C36, but some of the pioneer Elite's exhibited the Chroma bug quite drastically.