Any reliable Universal players under $300? (1 Viewer)

[Ranga]

I am looking to replace my sherwood 756 DVD player with a player under $300 (max $500) that has the following requirements:

1. DTS decoder
2. 80Hz or adjustable crossover
3. SACD playback
4. bass mgmt for SACD/DTS

Looks like the Denon players (2200 and up) are the only players that meet this requirement.

I tried out an open box denon 2200 ($300), but the transport seems to be flaky - some CDs do not play at all, quite a few play sometimes but not every single time. When browsing the net, It appears that the Denon players are quite finicky with playing CDs/DVDs, have heat issues, need firmware updates etc.

Is there a player (used/new) that's reliable and can meet atleast the top two requirements if not all?

Thx.

 

[dany]

Yamaha C750 seems to be the hot buy right now but no 80Hz x over.

 

[MichaelPR]

Check out the Onkyo sp502 this player has worked out great for me. SACD and DVDA sound awesome. I am also happy with PQ and SQ

 

[Ranga]

Michael

I am considering the onkyo too..
What's the crossover frequency on the 502? Is bass management applied to all formats (DTS/SACD/DVD-A)?

Thx

 

[dany]

Bass management for DAV-A and SACD is done through the DVD player and the other,DD and DTS is done with the reciever.

 

[Ranga]

I don't use a receiver in my setup .. it's a 5-ch pre-amp that has no DTS decoding or DAC.

 

[MichaelPR]

I wasn't aware that a DVD player has a crossover....I thought that was just for the receiver. AS far as bass management, I control my bass levels for SACD thru my Denons EXT. IN SW option. It sounds amazing. Bob Dylan sounds like he is in my living room on some of his two channel stuff. You can also adjust speaker sizes within the Onkyo Setup menu, as well as setup speaker distances. I really found this unit to be quite a deal.

 

[dany]

When you use the 6 analogs for DVD-A and SACD,the only thing the reciever does is volume.

 

[Dan Driscoll]

Some older receivers, like the Yamaha 596 I use as a pre-pro, digitize the 5.1 analog inputs. This is one of the reasons why I prefer to do high rez stereo through my 2 channel preamp, instead of MC through the Yamaha.

Some newer receivers and pre-pros can either pass the analog signals through unprocessed or they can digitize them to apply time and/or bass management.

 

[Ranga]

MichaelR

I looked at the Onkyo manual and it doesn't specify crossover settings (when you set speakers to SMALL). I am also not sure if the distance settings apply to DVD-A and SACD playback. Do you know?

I was lucky to get another open box denon 2200 today to try out, and so far - all my CDs are playing. Will check out the onkyo too.

Thx

 

[MichaelPR]

The distance settings ONLY apply to DVDA and SACD on the Onkyo. Since you can't control this at the receiver level the Onkyo gives you the option to control it. I am not sure if this is a common feature on SACD and DVDA players. But good luck with whatever choice you make!

 

[Ranga]

The distance setting typically apply to DTS and either DVD-A or SACD. There are currently no universal players that I know of that apply this to all formats (DTS/SACD/DVD-A). I think the denon 3910 may do it - not sure about the 2910.
This is not as much a concern as the crossover configuration as my room and subwoofer location make it very easy to localize bass at higher crossover settings. Thanks for your help.

 

[dany]

Last time i checked,DVD-A and SACD uses the 6 analogs out and you set the bass management in the DVD player the DD and DTS uses the Dig out and you use the bass managewment in the reciever.Thats the basic's for 95% of the stuff out there.

 

[Ranga]

Thanks Dany.

What you say is true for DVD players without built-in DTS/DD decoders. You may want to read up on how DVD players with built-in DTS/DD decoders handle bass management.