Video Asylum

Posted by Tommart on January 15, 2001 at 07:26:41:

I have a Sony DVP-300 (cost me $500, but is probably not as good as today's $250 Sony DVP-360). I wanted DTS, imrpovement in CD play, and either DVD-Audio or SACD. I bought a Panasonic A7 ($500) and JVC723GD ($600) with the plan that I would keep one and return the other. I wanted to try the Technics A10, but could not find one locally. The JVC has progressive scan, the A7 does not, but both have DVD-Audio and 5.1 analog outs.

Audio-wide, I preferred the A7, then my 300, and then the JVC. My 22 year old son preferred the JVC, the A7, and then the 300. To me, the JVC was more defined, but harsher than the other two--both with CDs and DVD-video. Still, the differences were very small. We needed to listen several times to make decisions, and could not replicate our preferences in blind testing.

DVD-Audio was very good on both the JVC and A7. It was a significant improvement over CD audio. To me it "almost" sounded as good as 96/24 discs. It didn't seem as clean as 96/24 discs, was superior to CD.

With the A7 and JVC, both I and my son preferred the sound of using the player as a transport and sending digital into my Rotel 985 Preamp/processor ($2000). With DVD-audio, the A7 would downconvert the digital signal to 48/16. Even with the downcoversion, we preferred this sound rather than using the A7 D/A to convert to analog and send analog signals to the Rotel through my Straightwire Maestro ($250) interconnects. This troubled me. Why was 48/16 better sounding? The D/A must be a weak link in both players.

I didn't spend much time testing video. Both the A7 and JVC appeared to have video as good as my Sony. The JVC did have trouble reading my Talking Heads "Stop Making Sense" DVD--the A7 and Sony did not. I do not have a progressive scan TV, so I could not take advantage of JVC's progressive scan. I have a 35" tube TV. Other people have reported that the JVC has difficulty reading some discs--Gladiator in particular. I do not own that disc. The JVC also has a poor remote, and the A7 slightly above average.

I decided that both the A7 and JVC had to go, and that the Technics A10 should improve things. It cost about $100 more, but I would need to buy through mail order. The A10 has better power supplies, audio circuitry, and CD remastering (digital up converting). However, I understand that it has the same transport and D/A process as the A7 which concerned me.

When I returned the A7, the store had just received two Sony S9000ES DVD/CD/SACD players. They sold for $1500, but that day the store had a $200 off sale store-wide. On the spur of the moment, I decided to buy the S9000ES on trial and see how it compared to the JVC and Sony 300.

The S9000ES is a stereo player with no DPL/DD/DTS processing. You must use the digital outs and your preamp/processor/receiver for home theater. It has progressive scan, and weighs 3 times the A7, JVC, or Sony 300. It's impressive in look and feel.

Since Willie Nelson's "Stardust" was on the SACD demo disc, and I own the 20-bit remastered CD version, my son and I used it to begin our testing. We first played Stardust on the 9000 and then on the JVC. After about 20 seconds of play time on the JVC, both my son and I were talking about how poor the sound was. The JVC sounded flat, harsh, and lacking dynamics in comparison with the 9000. The difference was so great, we did not finish listening to the entire song, and saw no reason for further comparision with this CD or others.

We relistened to the Stardust CD on the 9000, and then played the SACD version of Stardust. Needless to say, in 20 seconds, we were talking about how the SACD version was smoother and more dynamic. The CD version seemed to have a little "hash" with the music, which was absent with the SACD version. Guitar strings and drums seemed closer and more alive with the SACD version. Competition over.

We next pulled out some DVDs--Fleetwood Mac's The Dance, Eagle's Hell Freezes Over, and Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. The sound was magnificent. I had never heard these sound so good. Dynamic and smooth.

We compared playing CD/DVDs through the digital outs to the Rotel with allowing the 9000ES to convert to analog and using the analog outs. It was very, very close. I thought I preferred the digital--my son the analog, but I wasn't sure. It was too close. The Sony clearly has a wonderful transport and D/A converter. You can listen either through the digital outs or analogs outs.

Video was better as well. The colors fuller, and whites, blacks, and reds very accurate. The Sony also has all kinds of video adjustment capability which the A7, JVC, and 300 do not have, but I have not had time to play with these.

This is probably unfair, since I've been using a Sony for over 2 years, but I loved the remote on the 9000.

In my opinion, CD/DVD play on the Sony is superior to DVD-Audio play on the A7 and JVC. I did not want to pay $1300 for a DVD player, but after listening to the S9000ES, all sub-$1000 DVD players sounded cheap. I also asked myself, how could I be relying on my Sony 300 for CD play for so long?

Since I raised my price (from $600 to $1300), I then traveled to 3 or 4 stores in the DC area looking for a competitor for the 9000ES. One store would order the new Rotel, but did not have them in stock, and the $1300 Denon reminded me of the A7. I did not even want to take it home on trial. I read about competitors on internet, but most have not arrived (e.g. the $2000 Philips SACD1000). Some people believe that the Pioneer DV-37 ($1000) has as good video and audio as the S9000ES, but it does not have DVD-Audio or SACD. The Pioneer DV-38 ($2000) will have DVD-Audio, but it's no where to be found. Also I'm having trouble justifying $1300, so $2000 in out of my price range. I wish I would have been able to listen to a Technics A-10. In my mind, it's the only sub-$1000 DVD-Audio player worth considering.

So, I kept my Sony S9000ES, and love it more each day. It's got me back on audio internet forums like this, and I've been relistening to many of my DVD's and CD's. It's like listening them for the first time. I've also bought 6 SACD CDs. They are fantastic. The music is defined, dynamic, and smooth. Sony gives a little catalog of SACD discs. I spent a couple days listening to audio bites on CDNOW.COM, and now have a list of 23 additional SACDs I wish to buy. Looks like it will be while before I buy any DVDs.

By the way, I have three PSE ($1000) power amps and Legacy Focus speakers ($5400).