Onkyo DV-SP800 universal player posted on Crutchfield's web site. (1 Viewer)

[Bipin_P]

Anyone know what chipset this unit uses for deinterlacing?

 

[KeithH]

Bipin, I found this on Onkyo's web site about the 'SP800:

DVD-Audio, with its rich, enveloping sound from 5.1 channels, or Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD), with its frequency response of up to 100 kHz and sampling rate of 2.822 MHz? The debate over which provides the purest and smoothest musical experience is still raging. Fortunately, the DV-SP800 lets you make the final decision by providing you choices other companies can only dream about. But it doesn’t stop there. Few DVD players on the market meet the rigid standards of THX® Ultra certification; the DV-SP800 not only meets these standards, it exceeds them. Onkyo’s exclusive ExperienCinema™ concept provides you with the finest visual and audio experience through Progressive Scan, Direct Digital Path, 192 kHz/24-bit audio DACs and Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry (VLSC). DVDs are further enhanced with lossless 108 MHz/12-bit D/A video processing. Life is about choices. The DV-SP800 could very well be the last player you’ll ever have to choose.

Perhaps Onkyo has developed its chipset. I'm not sure what ExperienCinema™ entails.

 

[Troy LaMont]

Perhaps Onkyo has developed its chipset. I'm not sure what ExperienCinema™ entails.

I doubt that very seriously. Onkyo usually piggybacks on Toshiba for it's DVD hardware. I wouldn't be surprised if their deinterlacer is one we're already familiar with.

I'm interested on it's innards as well, specifically is SACD capabilities.

Troy

 

[Jeff Adams]

I am very interested to know how well this unit performs. Does anybody have this yet? My main use for this player and what matters to me the most is how well it performs on movies. How good is the video side of this player? Then of course my next concern is how good is the sacd and dvd audio playback. I have been wanting a combo player for awhile now that does everything good. It would be so nice to have dvd audio and sacd all in one package. Right now I have both formats but have seperate players which is a hassle due to the fact my receiver only has 1 set of 5.1 inputs. My only concern is due to the fact it has everything all in one, is there any compromises?

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Jeff, I got the Onkyo DV-SP-800 for Christmas. The weird thing is my preamp went out on me on Christmas Eve so I have been actually using the sp800's analog preouts for DD and DTS movies as well as DVD-Audio and SACD. I think it does a great job for a one box solution. I finally received my DVD setup discs over the weekend (Avia and Sound and Vision) and calibrated the video (interlaced only right now, no HD capabilities as yet). I also ended up changing the audio from fixed to variable as the audio setup pointed to some mismatching between speakers. Once I properly calibrated the audio I became even more impressed with the machines audio capability (I haven't tried regular CD yet, been to busy with SACD and DVD-A discs).

I also noticed in the current issues of Home Theater mag they have this player reviewed along with the Marantz and Pioneer universal players. I take all mag reviews with a grain of salt but it did give the SP800 a VERY good review (92 overall). It gave the Marantz 8300 a 96 overall (i think) but for me, spending the extra $400 on the Marantz over the Onkyo just wasn't in the cards. I bought my player from Oade.com and they recommended the Onkyo's audio over all the universal players they carry (Marantz included) plus said the audio was better than the new Sony 999es player.

Bass management is not an issue for my setup. I set all speakers as large (say no sub) and use my sub for my center channels low frequency material (high pass the center channel to the sub).

I got very tired of waiting for new players to hit the streets and just wanted to listen to the music.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Thanks Charles. I was leaning towards the Onkyo, but I might hold off now due to the new Samsung player with DVI inputs.

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Jeff, you need to read my last sentence very carefully...LOL

 

[Jeff Adams]

I hear ya Charles.

 

[will_irwin]

The Onkyo DV-SP800 is also available at bestpriceaudiovideo.com for quite a lot less than at Crutchfield. They also have free shipping currently.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Yes, it is a lot less at bestpriceaudiovideo.com. Only $888 with free shipping. And Charles, after some serious reading on the new Samsung dvd player, that players seems pretty useless. I have an older hdtv with no DVI inputs, so the players upconversion to 720p and 1080i is a non issue for me. Now I just have to decide which player to buy. The DV-SP800 or the Pioneer DV 45a. Choices, choices.

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Jeff, if you go with the Onkyo get it from Oade.com.....nuff said.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Charles, It sounds like you use this mainly for music. The primary use for me would be for home theater. How good is the video performance?

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Jeff, I find myself listening to music more recently because the audio is that good. The video is very good as well but you must understand I don't have a HDTV yet so I use only the interlaced video. It is better than the Pany A110 it replaced. From what I can tell, it has about the max resolution you can get (confirmed by new review in HT mag). I was told flat out by Oade that the video on the Sony 999es is a "little" better and the audio on the Onkyo was better than anything else they had (including the Marantz).

I wanted very good video but I wanted great audio that played all formats and the Onkyo does that. The Onkyo seems to cover all the bases and my needs the best for the money. Since I just calibrated the video over the weekend, I am still checking out the video with some of my favorite discs. I've done very little with the many video options on the player itself so keep that in mind.

 

[Jeff Adams]

My tv is a 16x9 hdtv so video performance is very high on my list. I would assume it would be quite a bit better than my JVC XV-723GD. I called Oade myself and they told me the exact same thing. That the Sony's video performance is better but not by much. I am really leaning toward the purchase of this player. Have you listened to many redbook cd's on the player? Due to the fact that dvd-audio and sacd titles are still pretty limited, I will be listening alot to normal cd's.

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Jeff I have not listened to the first redbook cd. I've been too busy listening to new SACD's and DVD-Audio disks and playing with the Avia setup etc... I will put it through the redbook cd tests at some point this week and give you my impressions. Maybe it will be as good or better than the Cambridge Audio D300se I use, giving me another item to sell off.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Charles, definately let me know about what you think of the Onkyo's redbook cd playback. Thanks.

 

[Charles Gurganus]

Jeff, the Onkyo's redbook cd playback is very good. I think it is close to my Cambridge Audio D300se stand alone player.

I guess you saw the progressive shootout results which placed this player at the bottom of the heap. That was VERY disappointing to me. The thing is, I am not using this players progressive output (no HDTV yet) but I had certainly planned on using that next year when the HDTV may be purchased. I was so disappointed I even got a return authorization number to return the player. The thing is, the audio is so good, I am having a hard time sending it back. I have to make a decision is a few days one way or the other. I almost feel it is a danged if you do danged if you don't situation.

Here are my many options of what to do.....

1. keep the sp800 and use it for audio only (SACD and DVD-Audio on this machine is very good) and at the same time continue to use my old Pany A110 for interlaced video. Then, at the time of getting the HDTV, just get a good video only progressive scan DVD player (< $200). Total cost about $1000

2. Send it back and take the $130 or so restocking fee hit. Get something like the new Philips 963 which SHOULD have great video (similar to the RP82, video wise) and good SACD and cd audio....total cost about $550 but I won't have DVD-Audio capability but I will still be able to play most DVD-A disc with the DTS or DD.

3. Send it back and continue to research the new players.

So it comes down to do I think the Onkyo is a good enough AUDIO player to ignore the video shortcoming. If I send the Onkyo back, will the Philips 963 SACD be as good as the Onkyo. I know the video will be better.

Keith, do you have any insight into this quagmire?

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Charles- Here's how I'm thinking about it, and I have a Pioneer 47ai which ended up a little below mid-pack.

1) I have the 47ai now.
2) The Secrets test only convered video. The universal player that did well, the Yamaha, got poor marks for audio in S&V.
3) Maybe Secrets will do a Part 2 covering audio.
4) I listen to 80% 2 channel music, 20% DVDs. So I'm sticking with the Pioneer for now.

 

[Sach]

The video is very good as well but you must understand I don't have a HDTV yet so I use only the interlaced video. It is better than the Pany A110 it replaced.

Charles, just earlier you said that the video was better than Pany A110; then you read the shoot out and now you want to switch to Pany again and return the SP800?
If you read the shoot out it says most DVDs will produce subtle differences in various players; definitely the video based and improperly flagged ones will look better on the DCDi players - again the question is if you watch a lot of video based material.

Kevin - the shoot out results for 47Ai are disappointing definitely but can you really see all those nuances in your rig? Before the shoot out you thought the picture was excellent but after the shootout have you been able to see any specific problems? I think 4 of the tests have got to do with CUE but if you are not seeing the same, does it have the same weightage? can you reproduce the chroma delay in your environment?

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Sach- Your inference is exactly right. Before I saw the shootout results, I was waaaaay happy with the 47ai. Now that it's been said (I think it was Don M or Stacey S) that the shootout was set up to make very small differences very apparent in the results, maybe some re-thinking has to occur. For example, the Pioneer gets low marks for the chroma bug. But, I've had the 414, 333, 05, 45a, and now the 47ai over the past 5 years or so, and I've never seen it. (27 and 32" CRT TVs.) But I've never gone looking for it either... Maybe ignorance is indeed bliss.