progressive DVD w/ great audio (1 Viewer)

[Gary_Z]

First let me start with my setup. I have the Anthem AVM20 powered by a Pass X5. B&W N805w/HTM2 across the front with Gallo Micro's for rears. True Jr. sub. I have an Arcam Alpha 9 CD player so I want to upgrade to a DVD player really just for DVD playback but SACD DVD-A would be a plus, also multi-region, but they are not musts.

Right now I have a Sony 650C 5 disk player. (not progressive) I have a Pioneer 503CMX plasma and would like to upgrade to a progressive scan DVD.
I want buy a DVD player with great sound as well as picture.
I am thinking about the Denon 2900 which is coming, or teh Philips 963A. I was thinkging about the Pioneer 47ai but the chroma-bug problem stopped me from buying it.

Please tell me what you think....want the best to go with my system in the $1000 range

 

[Brian Ruth]

I think for your price range, the Pioneer 47ai would still be the best player. Not sure what the chroma problem is but I'm sure it's fixable via firmware upgrades. Given the fact that it plays DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, AND SACD in one unit, I think that it is (as the website says) a no-brainer.

 

[John Kotches]

Nope, the Pioneer won't fix the chroma bug via a firmware upgrade, plus the deinterlacing isn't too great.

For roughly the same price, you could go with the Yamaha DV-S2300, which has an MEI decoder that is chroma bug free, plus uses Faroudja deinterlacing.

The only thing I think the Pioneer has going for it in the + column is the Firewire/i.Link interface, and to take advantage of that you have to buy their US$4K receiver.

Regards,

 

[Gary_Z]

I have the Anthem AVM20 which has a Firewire port on the back, though I believe with the current software (I am running v2.06) it is not enabled.

I wonder if it will be possible when it is enabled to connect a player like the Pioneer to it, or will their link be proprietary to just their players, same for Denon.

 

[Sach]

The only thing I think the Pioneer has going for it in the + column is the Firewire/i.Link interface, and to take advantage of that you have to buy their US$4K receiver.

However the Widescreen review of 47A (a previous model) rates it very high in both video and audio.