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DVD Player capable of DVD-A and SACD (1 Viewer)

Aslam Imran

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Is there a DVD player under $500 that can play both DVD-A and SACD and also have progressive output? If not whats the minimum I have to shell out in order to get one?
 

george king

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Pioneer makes the 47A, which lists for $1200 I believe (but can be found for much less). I also believe Apex makes, or is introducing, a universal player for about $300 (although given their history, one wonders how good it will be).
 

Matt Stryker

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The Apex was reviewed by Sound & Vision last month, and it got a TERRIBLE review in terms of sound quality. If the Pioneer is outside your monetary range, you're probably best going with a DVD Audio/Video player and a seperate SACD player. That would be under $500.
 

John Kotches

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There are rumoured to be players in the works from Onkyo, Yamaha, Kenwood and others that might have better performance than Apex, and potentially street in the US$500 price range.
I have not verified this yet, so consider it to be speculation. Treat it as such ;)
Regards,
 

KeithH

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John said:
There are rumoured to be players in the works from Onkyo, Yamaha, Kenwood and others that might have better performance than Apex
I sure would hope that Onkyo, Yamaha, and Kenwood could out-do APEX. They wouldn't have to try too hard. ;)
 

Martin Rendall

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I guess it's time hasn't come yet. Personally, I think I'll hold out until there's a combo DVD-A/SACD/DVD player which has great bass management. Maybe a year wait? By then, prices should be more reasonable and sound quality up... Not to mention more software to choose from.

Martin.
 

Aslam Imran

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I think I am going to wait too before jumping on the SACD/DVD-A bandwagon. By that time the prices would also have come down.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
 

Doug_B

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Does anyone who owns SACD and DVD/DVD-A players actually stick with only one set of multichannel interconnects to his pre/pro and thus swap them between each source player? I was thinking of doing this if I end up liking both formats and find the 47A lacking (and assuming I like multichannel music, which I have yet to try). I don't have a lot of time on my hands, so listening to multiple discs in a given listening session / day is a rarity. I don't like the thought of an 18 cable + switch box(es) solution.

Thanks.

Doug
 

KeithH

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Doug, if you do go with separate DVD-Audio and SACD players and don't want to go with A/V switch boxes, you might want to get cable extenders that will plug into the 5.1-channel inputs on your pre/pro or receiver. These extenders have inputs for RCA cables. With extenders, you don't have to worry about continually removing and inserting RCA cables into the back of your pre/pro or receiver, which could eventually damage an input (depending on how tight your cables fit). Also, the extenders might be easier to reach than the back of your pre/pro or receiver. If you go with Radio Shack Gold Series extenders or extenders from another reputable manufacturer, you will probably observe no signal degradation.

I realize that running 18 RCA cables through the A/V switch boxes is a bit daunting, but the switch boxes are cheap (two Radio Shack 15-1952 boxes are $30), convenient, and have a small footprint. Finally, I hear no signal degradation with them. I wouldn't write the switch boxes off completely.
 

David Judah

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Does anyone who owns SACD and DVD/DVD-A players actually stick with only one set of multichannel interconnects to his pre/pro and thus swap them between each source player?
Yes. I do. I leave the center, sub, and surrounds on the DVD-A player, and switch the L & R when I want to listen to SACD. It's kind of a pain, but I don't want to risk degradation through switchers or cable extenders.

DJ
 

Doug_B

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Keith,

I think both of your points (extenders, 18 cables + switch boxes) boil down to cost and quality issues. If one spends in the neighborhood of $30-$40 per cable for 0.5m length, I guess it's debatable whether extenders would or wouldn't affect quality. I guess it couldn't hurt to try them, as RS is good about returns. I agree this is a good idea if there is no perceived degradation to music. As for the 18 cables+, if one believes that the cost I mention above is worth it vs cheaper cables, then this is not a negligible cost, esp relative to the cost of some players. OTOH, I've been happy with Outlaw's cables (haven't compared to others, so ignorance is bliss), which for a set of 6 come out to $15/cable, shipping included. May not be too bad for 18 of them, but their locking connectors would be a b!tch if I chose the swapping route with 6 cables.

David,

Since my pre/pro supports Analog Passthrough as an option on all my analog inputs (not just the 5.1 inputs), I wouldn't need to swap any cables if I also end up listening to SACD only in 2 ch mode. I would just need 8 cables total.

In any case, I'm just 1 week away from heading to my dealer to hear these formats for the first time! If I like, I can probably bring home a unit for further auditioning.

Thanks.

Doug
 

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