Video Asylum

Posted by Auricle (A) on September 13, 2002 at 09:23:57

In Reply to: DVD/CD Player posted by Nglazer on September 12, 2002 at 10:58:42:

The previous poster is one of the few people who had good luck with the Pioneer 3 series. However, he may well be right (see my comments below about the new Elite).

The new DV-47A, though it requires MUCH burn in (4 to 5 weeks) is excellent in all regards, except build quality. The consensus is, this should not have an "Elite" name tag on it from that perpective, but deserves it elsewhere.

Phillips makes a DVD deck that has excellent sound and SACD, but no DVD-A. Apex will shortly introduce another deck with all. My guess is that it will also require significant burn in. Their previous version got so panned by the general public (most of whom reviewed it within 30 min of unpacking) that it was taken out of production.

The TNT website may prove informative.

I went a different route myself, I got a Chinese player with the Sage progressive chip and VGA/RGB out (no Chroma bug, far better video performance in general). I did not expect the build quality to be much, I was pleasantly surprised. Nor did I expect the CD quality to be much. I was also pleasantly surprised here. Before I give it a thumbs up, however, I want to have it around a bit more, otherwise I would give you the brand, especially since I got it for $210 shipped.

In video, it replace my HTPC. I have not been dissapointed.

The CD is good enough that I will allow the SACD/DVD-Audio format wars (as well as the Firewire/USB war) to die down. In these formats, the technology is changing at the rate of computers. En fin, before you get the player it will be obsolete. Just keep it in mind. Then buy what you finally decide on.