What DVD player should i get for $400 (1 Viewer)

[Allen Marshall]

I wanted a Denon dvd player but any of the ones i could of wanted seem like they cost to much.

i was hoping for one that played DVD-As or SACDs or hopefully both, if they have ones like that for this price range.

My sony one is roundin 6 years old and startin to kick the bucket. And i was hoping to start a DVD-A or SACD music collection, but it'd be cool to have one that plays both. Oh yeah, and one that plays every kind of CD-R/CD-RWs and DVD-R/DVD-RWs. Oh oh and progressive scan.

And one where the fastforward/rewind button and chapter skips arent the same buttons.

Can anyone help me out on pickin one?

 

[John Garcia]

For just a bit more, I'd go for a used Denon 2900. They seem to be going for about $450-500.

If I decide to go with a 2910 in the near future, I will be selling my 2200 for around $375.

 

[Allen Marshall]

what would be a good place/site to safely get a used one from. I really like they're dvd players, very stylish.

 

[John Garcia]

There are a number of 2900s for private sale on www.audiogon.com (and videogon as well) The ones that are return/exchanged from dealers are running around $550-650.

A new in box 2900 can be had for $699, though that is obviously out of that budget. There are also factory refurbished units from ecost for $549:

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecsplash/...sp?dpno=272986

 

[Allen Marshall]

the controller for the 2900 looks kinda non high techy. Cant find a slow motion button or a frame by frame button :frowning:

 

[Allen Marshall]

im lookin at a pic of the 2910. what is HDMI, HDCD, DCDi and SRS.

And i just realized we're talking about the 2900 instead of 2910. Im suddenly starting to feel alot better. I was thinking 2910 for $550 used????

 

[Allen Marshall]

if i could get a 2900 for anything under $500 i might be able to get it but looks more like 2910. Unless the 2900 is the only thing i get for christmas (was hoping to get a BFD also).

What are the main differences between the two that would make people go for the 2900 instead of the 2910?

 

[John Garcia]

Better Burr-Brown DACs (audio), Silicon Image deinerlacer, and better build quality in the 2900, vs Faroudja deinterlacer and DVI on the 2910. The 2910 would be a good choice, but it is $679 MSRP, so store pricing will probably be around $600.

I think the 2900 uses the same remote as the 2200 (not great in either case), and there are two separate buttons for skip and ff/rev.

 

[ReggieW]

Allen,

I would say pay $375.00 for John's player and call it the day. I don't think you will be disappointed with the 2200. I don't think you'll see a difference between it and the 2900's video quality, and the 2900's audio is only marginally better than the 2200's from what I'm told in a moderate mid-fi setup. the 2200 is no lightweight and weighs nearly as much as Pioneer's 47ai Elite player. Getting a player with the Silicon Image Deinterlacer for under $500 was unimaginable two years ago. Couple that with DVD-A/SACD capability and you have a winner on your hands. As far as the 2910 goes....I've heard very mixed responses from those using its upscaling via DVI. Some say the 2200/2900 offer comparable picture quality to the DVI/HDMI equipped Denon players (1910/2910) at 480p! However, this will be very display dependent. The 2200 will probably be your last DVD player before HD-DVD arrives. I own a 2900 and was considering the 3910, but will instead keep it until HD-DVD arrives. The universal players are only average redbook cd players, but I have an Arcam to handle CD playback.

-Reg

 

[EricRWem]

The Denon 2900 is the best unit at near this price range. Even without DVI and HDMI, it's still a better overall unit then the 2910.

 

[Allen Marshall]

i dont know what DVI and HDMI are. Can i get a used 2910 for down to $400 or under?

 

[Steven_Lazarus]

HDMI and DVI are paths that the player use to send the signal to your display/television. If your display isn't equipped with either type of input than it's not really and issue. If it is than you can bypass the component output and use HDMI or DVI to maintain a direct digital signal from the player to the display. The 2910 offers 1080i upscaling through HDMI/DVI, since it's also new to the market your going to have a tough time finding it used or B-Stock.

 

[EricRWem]

If you don't have DVI or HDMI, there's no point in getting a 2910.

For sure, you should favor the 2900 over the 2910 at that rate. Better built machine, amazing 480p PQ via component video, better audio up and down. $699 is the worst case price. Street price is probably below $600 now if you shop around. Ecost has them in and out at $529 thereabouts, which is an absolute steal for this unit.

 

[BenF]

"The universal players are only average redbook cd players, but I have an Arcam to handle CD playback."

Can you expand upon this a bit? I was considering the Denon 2200 or 2900 to handle all my CD, SACD, and DVD duties. I would prefer the unit to be equally good at dvd and cd. Would you recommend another unit?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Allen Marshall]

Damn, looks like 2910 and 2900 are out of reach. :frowning:

What should i get now?

 

[John Garcia]

The 2200 is a great all around player. I do all of my CD/SACD listening on my SACD player, but for DVD and DVD-A, the 2200 has kept me very happy. The only reason I am looking to upgrade is because I can use the DVI connection that the 2910/3910 have.

 

[ReggieW]

BenF,

The audio quality on the 2900 is very good to excellent. The new issue of Stereophile currently on newsstands has a very positive review of the 2900's audio capabilities. However, the Arcam CD player which I own retailed for $1,600 ($600 more than the 2900) when it was sold, and only plays CD's. In order to get CD playback of this caliber, you would have to look at DVD players in the $3,000+ range like the Arcam DV-27a or Lexicon RT-10 for example. Both have CD playback NEARLY comparable to my Arcam CD92. In other words, don't expect a $1,000 universal player to match a dedicated $1,000 cd player when it comes to playing CD's Exclusively. Dedicated machines are usually always better options than jack of all trade universal players. I think most will be quite happy with the 2900's audio playback as long as they aren't die-hard audiophiles.

Reg

 

[Daren Welsh]

Is this exclusively true (and for all DVD players)? I posted another question about an upscaling Pioneer I saw at BB, but if that only works through those two connections (and not through the analog YPrPb output) then I guess it's a moot point for me.

 

[John Garcia]

All of the upscaling players I've seen so far only upscale via DVI/HDMI, though I don't know if that is true of all upscaling players.