First DVD player and also play audio CDs? (1 Viewer)

[Walter_C]

Looking for suggestions on purchasing my first DVD player. I'd like to be able to play movie DVDs through my big-screen tv and I'd also like to be able to play audio CDs (CDRs, etc.) using my two AR Inc speakers.

Note: I do NOT have an audio receiver (well, at least one that is any good as it is about 14 years old and does not have the digital output jacks, obviously!). If in order to be able to play audio cds through my DVD player I'll need to pick up a new(er) receiver then I'll do that.

Wondering if there are any decent DVD players out there that can also drive audio speakers directly (or is this just the wrong way to go and I should purchase both a DVD player as well as a receiver).

Thanks and I look forward to hearing any/all suggestions!

Walter

 

[Philip Hamm]

Your old receiver will work just fine for stereo audio from any DVD player. No DVD players have amps built in that I know of. Any modern DVD player will play audio CDs with no problem at all with that receiver. If your bigscreen is new HDTV ready you'll want to make sure you get a "progressive scan" DVD player. If it's an older analog model like mine, then any DVD player will be fine, but Toshibas may look funny because they don't do anamorphic downconversion very well.

If you want to play CD-R and CD-RW then get a Pioneer player, they are the compatability kings.

 

[Phil A]

Philip, there is one player that has everything built in, but it is not chaap even though it is very well made, the Linn Movie Classik. It has 5 amps, radio, sleep timer, DVD player and is quite a nice package and very well built. But it is $2,995, comes in a compact chassis that can be had in different colors and has multi-room capability, www.classik.com.

 

[Doug_B]

Walter,

You didn't mention how you're going to be dealing with the DVD audio from the player. Do you want the audio to be played through your receiver's speakers (recommended), or do you want it sent directly to your TV as the video will be? In case you are not aware (and I apologize if you are), the audio and video are split onto separate outputs when leaving the DVD player.

Given that your receiver does not support a digital audio input, and assuming your TV does not support digital audio / dolby digital as well, the audio will then need to be carried by the analog left and right RCA outputs of the DVD player. Assuming the DVD player has only one set of such outputs (I don't know if there are models sporting multiple sets of analog audio outs other than models that have multichannel output and thus dolby digital processing built in), the DVD audio and the CD audio must then share this same pair of outputs. As such, you'll need to connect the analog audio outs to your current receiver (for argument's sake, use the CD inputs that are likely labeled as such on the back of your receiver).

As for the video, to expand on Philip's post, if you have "component" inputs on your TV (set of 3 video jacks, not to be confused with a composite video jack and associated l/r audio jacks), then you want a DVD player that has a set of component video outputs (interlaced vs progressive is another issue once you've determined that a set of component inputs is available on your TV). Otherwise, chances are that your TV supports S-Video, in which case use the DVD player's S-Video output.

If you have any more questions, just ask.

Doug

 

[ChrisMatson]

A couple of things to consider:

You could buy an all-in-one box type thing (RCA, Sony, Aiwa, etc...) that has speakers, an amp and a DVD player in one unit. These can actually be more difficult to use than separate components. The quality will not be as good, and generally, the speakers are not interchangeable with other speakers.

You could buy a reasonably-priced DVD player ($150) and a receiver ($300) and be way ahead of what you would get for the same price for an all-in-one unit. You could use your existing two speakers for regular stereo playback. As you get more into home theater, you can upgrade to 5 speakers and a subwoofer.

Set a budget, search for reviews, and audition equipment.