I'm on the hunt for a good dvd player that will play my music aswell as watching dvd's. This will go with a Pio 436xde, Pio AX5ai-s, and B&W FPM-4 front's and FPM-2's for rears. I'm not sure whether to go for the tried and tested 868 or the new 969. Whats the difference and what would be the best buy. OR if another model completely would be more suited.
Thanks

[LFCRules]

Depending on your budget, Arcam DV78 and DV79 always have a good write up for playing both DVD's a music. Check out the Arcam specific forum for more info here for more Arcam info.

I personally have the Arcam DV29 which is great, although I use it for about 90% DVD's only, and at £1600 retail, it ain't cheap

Cheers

Andy

[cheechy]

If you can still pick up an 868 for around £500 imho its worth it. However you may have problems getting one of these now unless its second hand. As far as I'm aware there isnt a million miles between the 868 and 989 - chroma bug has seemingly been fixed in the 989.

Any other improvements?

[Damian1978]

Theres always the Marantz DV7600 which is getting good reviews on both video and especially music.

I have its big brother the DV9500 and for music its excellent. Detailed but very natural sounding.....if its on the recording it'll play it

[MJeeves]

I have an 868 and I am VERY happy. Maybe being picky music could be better but all in all a very good player. I've heard that the 989 will have a couple of improvements in the sound department, a better video feed, pure video (like SDI) and other stuff but I don't have specifics. Anyone?

[Neil08]

Very happy with my 868 (had it about a month). To my eyes, the PQ was cleaner than the 7600. Very little in the audio. Both players are top quality bits of kit.

If you can find an 868 for £500-600, that's a reasonable saving on the £800 web price of a 989 and you can have the player now (someone correct me - but I'm not sure if the 989 is actually available yet). The 868 does seem to be difficult to find now.

Not having seen a 989, can't say what the improvements over the 868 are. A quick scan of the pioneer gb website reveals that the DACs are different, along with some of the audio features.

[bigstevex]

there's re-furbed 868's on ebay at the mo for 549!

[gandley]

989 Has dual power supplies, the audio side has been beefed up abit and the video noise over HDMI evidently has been reduced. the chroma Bug has now gone and the layer change is supposed to be a bit more snappy.

Home cinama choice have a full review in there December issue (123) and it rates highly for both exceptional video and excellent music ability.

mag quote....the dv-989avi is every bit as accomplished as hoped. Its greatest achievement is its breathtaking clarity, based around 2 key components: fine detail response and suppression of noise.



Can be had for £763 from ivojo or £799 from avland with free 1m QED HDMI leed due in mid to late november

[HCman]

Originally Posted by gandley

due in mid to late november

November 21st I'm told ... Can't w8 !!

[Neil08]

If the 989 really is an improvement on the 868 it's going to be a peach.

£763 for a 989 is the best price I've seen. Doesn't say when they'll be shipping tho, nor what the the delivery charge is. Ivojo also seem to have some good prices on Pioneer plasmas.

There's a seller on ebay (hifonics?) that has had several refurb 868s over the past few weeks for £549+del. Not sure this a great price, as its a refurb and you're buying off of ebay. IIRC there was a HK-based seller offering £360-ish+del for a new unit. Now that would be a bargain in the unlikely event you got lucky with HM customs....

Last time I looked, 7oaks was selling an xd 868 for £620ish. They weren't open to offers when I phoned about it. At that price, a 989 does look pretty tempting.

[gandley]

cant wait till the 21st then as i have had mine on order for some time.