No frills, just top-notch picture and sound

[MysteryMan]

Looking for advice, people, on which DVD player to look for......

I do not need Prog Scan, I think, as I have a Sony DX10032 CRT TV.
I do not need any on-board processing (got an SR5200)
I do not need DVD-A or SACD

I do need a cracking picture
I do need excellent movie sound
I do need it to play DVD-R

Any suggestions? The Pioneer 656A seems to be getting top billing at the moment but I wonder if I am paying extra for things I don't need.

Woudl I see a difference between the Pioneer and, say, the Toshiba 220 or 520 in terms of picture and sound?

Thanks!

[Costas]

656 from my side...

Toshiba 520 its cheaper and just as good

[Costas]

Originally posted by FoxyMulder
Toshiba 520 its cheaper and just as good

I would rather disagree here although the ultimate choice remains with MysteryMan. A very quick check in this forum will show quite a few problems with the 520 but nothing really with Pio 656. Built and quality comparison also shows that the 520 is cheaper offering quite less...

[andypandy]

Sony 905 - Quality difference to SEE !! unless you are into spending £1000+

AS you have just purchased a lovely new marantz amp! why not get a Marantz 4100se as a thought can be had from richer sounds for as little as £179.00 MR. Don't forget that this DVD player won loads of awards and has none of the other stuff that you don't require. Nice looking too! Just a thought......

[Daneel]

Originally posted by Costas
I would rather disagree here although the ultimate choice remains with MysteryMan. A very quick check in this forum will show quite a few problems with the 520 but nothing really with Pio 656. Built and quality comparison also shows that the 520 is cheaper offering quite less...

Really? I must have missed that. Not heard of any problems with the 520E.

[evans]

MysteryMan

I just got the phillips q50 with the latest firmware and it is brilliant!! I got it from hong kong (internet order) and its picture is fantastic and the sound is very good. It has pro scan pal and ntsc and plays cd and mp3, etc no sacd or dvd-a but this doesnt bother me.

Also one thing you should be careful of , dont let people sway you on what to buy as before I bought mine I read this model had lots of problems and was a lemon but its a load of rubbish.

the q50 is a good one with the latest update of firmware but I heard the best value for money player around is the panasonic rp56