Denon 2900, Yamaha 2300 or Marantz 8400 Hybrid player to buy? (1 Viewer)

[WaltS]

The time has come to finally buy a new DVD player but having read many reviews I am still undecided between the Yamaha DVD-S2300, the Denon DVD-2900 and the pricey Marantz DV8400. I will be both watching movies to my 57" RPTV and want good video and I plan on playing CD's, MP3's, DVD audio, and SACD through it. I only have a Marantz SR7200 receiver to play it through so I will have no external bass management for DVD-A and SACD. I am leaning toward the Yamaha based on video quality reviews but would appreciate any input from people who have owned these units longer than some of the initial reviews I have seen so far.

Thanks

 

[Rachael B]

The popular jargon would be universal or uni player, but hybrid works for me too. I'm looking at the same three myself...Best wishes!

 

[Charles Gurganus]

The Marantz is overpriced. I'd substitute the Onkyo for that one.

 

[Mike Veroukis]

The Marantz is overpriced. I'd substitute the Onkyo for that one.

And I'd substitute the Integra DPS-8.3



- Mike

 

[Michael Botvinick]

The guys at AVS forum have loved the 2900. I have demoed it versus the other players you have mentioned. By the way, Good Guys offered it to me for $900. I would get the Denon over the Yamnmie. But the Marantz is a good question. It has the supposed Chroma bug according Dvd player Secret's shootout. (Check out the avsforum) It is based on the Pioneer elite. The 47ai Elite was the product of the yeat for Home Theater Magazine even though it has the Chroma bug. Would you notice the chroma bug? (not a big issue to me) If not, see if you can pick up the 47ai for about $800. I love Marantz and I loved their player buy not going to spend the $1600. I am now considering the Denon and 47ai. Good luck. Email me if yo need more info.

-Michael
[email protected]

 

[CurtisC]

The Denon 2900!I almost bought the s2300,good player(a few small issues).The marantz is slightly overpriced, imho.I have read several reviews of the 2900,most people have it right.I have NO BM issues,cd's sound great,even cd-r's,multi ch sounds great and I change no settings.Most 2900 issues are user/other equip related,not blaming users too much.It does seem a few users paniced before they know the proper functions,capabilities and set up.It took me 15 minutes or so to install and set up and start jammin'.

 

[Don Wheeler]

I had a 47 and now have a Marantz 8400 and love it I never noticed the chroma bug on either If you can, try some at home and decide

 

[KeithH]

How does the Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai stand up on the audio side relative to other universals? I've heard mixed reviews of the audio capability of the '47Ai.

 

[sonny_b]

I think if you consider the tweaked audio side of the 8400 which will probably be more comparable to the upcoming Denon 5900, then the Marantz is no longer overpriced.

Also, the Onkyo player and Integra player are exactly the same internally. The Integra, I believe only has a few more outputs.

-sonny

 

[Charles Gurganus]

JFYI

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...er-2-2003.html

 

[Brian Fitterman]

I think if you consider the tweaked audio side of the 8400 which will probably be more comparable to the upcoming Denon 5900, then the Marantz is no longer overpriced.

I have the 8300 and would definatly agree with this.

 

[WaltS]

The question I have about the Marantz 8400 is how is the base management going to be just run through my Marantz reciever and how does the video compare to the Yammy or Denon. I don't mind paying the premium if it is worth it but I don't want to sacrifice video either.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

The Marantz 8300, 8400, Onkyo 800 and Integra players are all based on the 47a. The 47a, but not even the 47ai, which has better DACs and "improved" but still not yet perfect BM. Theoretically, none of those players have BM for DVD-A, but the 47ai has "rudimentary" BM in that DVD-A 2.0 works, 5.0 works, 5.1 works, but for some reason, 4.0 doesn't work. The 47ai also doesn't reroute the center correctly to the L & R if you choose "no center", and if you choose no sub, it doesn't correctly reroute the sub info to the "large" speakers. But I remember seeing at least one of the latter 2 faults with the 2900 in the big AVS 2900 BM thread not too long ago.

I have a 47ai, like it a lot (Product of the Year by Home Theater Magazine) and am only considering "upgrading" depending on what the Denon 3900 looks like. But I also wish that Pioneer would do a "beefy" Elite player like the old 09 or 37...

 

[sonny_b]

The Marantz players are indeed "based" off of the pioneer 47a OEM universal set. That is where the similarities stop. Marantz put a ton of research into beefing up the audio portion into this player. This is not a rebadged Pio in Marantz clothing. I would go as far to say that my Marantz can kick your Pio's ass in a fight... Here is the tale of the tape...but numbers often don't mean as much as real world listening. As always, brining it home and putting it in your home system will always sound different in the demo room.

Marantz Specs:
http://www.marantz.com/p_prod_specne...t=u&line=sadvd

Pio Specs:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pi...,92380,00.html


Also, Denon Jeff mentioned that there will not be a 3900 but a 5900 due to all the upgrades this player has compared to the 2900.


-sonny

 

[Kevin C Brown]

The Pioneer 656, which is essentially the 45a minus SACD, also just got Product of the Year by What Hi Fi, a British publication.

I like the Marantz players. But IMO, they are overpriced for having the chroma bug.

 

[Krzysztof W]

I have had S2300 for more than a month now and I have to tell you that I love the sound. I had my doubts before I made the purchase due to some rumors and review which mentioned excessive noise (for CD and DVD_audio). I do not have any regrets now. Yamaha really fits well with my Rotel processor and Def Tech speakers. The picture is also great. I had a chance to audition Denon unit few days ago and as far as sound is concerned I prefer S2300. Well, I guess that most of it is just the matter of personal taste as both machines are good

best

Krzysztof

 

[WaltS]

I've decided to get the Yamaha DVD-S2300 based on what I've read and price to value ratio. There seem to be numerous posts about faulty denon units that had to be replaced and for the money I think the yammy will work fine for me. Anyone know if buying from crazy eddie is worth doing, seems to be the cheapest price I can find on the unit.

http://store.yahoo.com/crazyeddieonl...vdvdausap.html

 

[MattKelley]

I have also noticed that Crazy Eddie has the best prices, but I too am a bit skeptical. I always check out Reseller Ratings before making a puchase from an online store:
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1355.html

On some other sites I've read that they'll offer the lowest price but then charge obsurd fees to bring the price back up. I also believe that Crazy Eddie is not an authorized retailer for many of the brands they sell.

You might find a better deal buy finding a local delear and bargain for a lower price.

 

[David S]

"There seem to be numerous posts about faulty denon units that had to be replaced"

Don't discount the 2900 for this reason as there are (me one of them) equal amounts, probably more, a lot more satisfied owners (ie., people posting their problems vs people posting their satisfaction).

I'd suggest Good Guys (if you have it) cause they carry both and a sided by side demo may be possible. I did one for both audio and video. and although it was just me and my ears and eyes (no measurements or such), I thought both were great units, and it was actually the build quality of the Denon which swayed me (both were offered for $849 new).

 

[Rodon]

I bought a Denon 3802 last year from 6th Ave and today decided I wanted a Denon 2900 as a source. I called them up and leveraged the previous purchase. $853 shipped for a 2900! I think that is pretty good. YMMV on the deal but never hurts to ask. I am pretty excited.