[Peachey]

I currently have the setup below but I am thinking of adding the Denon 1920 DVD player to my system. My Sony mini Hi-Fi is now on it’s last legs and I am thinking about using the amp and speakers I already have rather than buy another Hi-Fi, whilst also improving my home cinema setup.

I appreciate that an AV setup will never compete with a dedicated Hi-Fi for music, but although I am no audiophile, I would like the system to sound good.

I would keep my Panasonic DVD Recorder for recording purposes and connect it to the TV via scart. I would wish to connect the Denon to my TV via HDMI to DVI.

Now the questions:
Does anybody know whether the Denon would connect to the Philips 37pf9986 in the way I intend?
Would I need to purchase an HDMI to DVI lead or does that come in the box?
What is the layer change like on the Denon? It is quite marked on the Panasonic and I was hoping for an improvement.
Am I likely to see an improvement in the picture quality over my current progressive scan output from the Panasonic?
Will music (mostly pop and rock) through the Denon player and Pioneer amp sound OK.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Steve

[Timbo21]

I owned a panasonic DMR-E95 for a short while, & I would say the 1920 would be significantly better; both picture wise, & in sound. Most DVD recorders are not the best playback machines, and I found the DMR-E95's sound to be pretty poor & quite digital sounding.

I must add that I haven't demoed the 1920, but I have a 3910. I would imagine that you will get fairly decent CD playback on it, but not as good as a £200 pure CD player, but way better than the E95. SACD is meant to be decent for the price according to some forum members, that's if you want this format.

The 1920 does have a buffer for layer change, so I would think this should be much better than E95.

Yes, you will have to purchase a seperate HDMI - DVI lead. The connections you mentioned should work fine.

AFAIK there isn't much to rival this player at this price.

You should get a very decent sound with your Pioneer amp. If you use digital coaxial connection from the 1920 to your amp it may give you better sound than using the analogue outs of the 1920; but you would have to experiment with this to hear which you think is best, and for SACD & DVD-A you would have to use the analogue outs on the 1920. However, audiophiles will always reccommend a pure stereo amp rather than a reciever, and a seperate CD player, or an add on DAC for the 1920, but by the sounds of it you would probably be happy with just the 1920 & your current pioneer.

I think to improve sound for music further, after getting the 1920 (if that's what you decide on) would be to get a new speaker system. The Genies will be pretty good for movies up to a point & not bad for music. But, to get some proper decent bookshelf speakers would definitely improve things a lot - for the future sometime perhaps

T.

p.s. The best thing is to demo one. If you have a sevenoaks near you or any good AV retailer I'm sure they will help.

[Peachey]

Thanks Timbo21 for taking the time to reply in such detail. Very helpful.

I take your point about the Genies, which by the way I am delighted with for movies, and although I agree I would get better sound for music from buying some bookshelfs I think that she who must be obeyed would have a thing or two to say about me adding further speakers. She's already identified a lamp to sit in the space previously occupied by the mini hi-fi for goodness sake.

[Peachey]

Received and set up my Denon 1920 today and my first impressions are that this is an excellent player.

Positives:
Picture quality is excellent, although 720p has a small border left and right as well as the normal top and bottom border. 1080i displays full width. Both settings provide a stunning picture.

SACD playback is excellent, and I am more than happy with the standard CD playback.

Negatives (very minor):
Remote control is a bit boring.
You cannot select the picture settings (720p, 1080i) from the remote; you have to select on the player's front panel.

[marinecommando]

Hi, seeing as Peachey has had his questions answered I thought id hijack this thread rather than start yet another 1920 one

I've got a region 2 1920 player coming tomorow from Peter Tyson. I don't own any DVD's that aren't region 2 so is there any point installing the region free firmware?

What I mean is - does the firmware give any other benefits (ie bug fixes)?

Thanks in advance

MC

Originally Posted by Peachey

Received and set up my Denon 1920 today and my first impressions are that this is an excellent player.

Positives:
Picture quality is excellent, although 720p has a small border left and right as well as the normal top and bottom border. 1080i displays full width. Both settings provide a stunning picture.

SACD playback is excellent, and I am more than happy with the standard CD playback.

Negatives (very minor):
Remote control is a bit boring.
You cannot select the picture settings (720p, 1080i) from the remote; you have to select on the player's front panel.

I get no such border on mine in 720 mode (left & right edges of screen)!

sureley that dosent occur dependant on screen size?

[butlerpeter]

Originally Posted by marinecommando

Hi, seeing as Peachey has had his questions answered I thought id hijack this thread rather than start yet another 1920 one

I've got a region 2 1920 player coming tomorow from Peter Tyson. I don't own any DVD's that aren't region 2 so is there any point installing the region free firmware?

What I mean is - does the firmware give any other benefits (ie bug fixes)?

Thanks in advance

MC

No, it's exactly the same version as on the players already.

It's just region free instead.

[Peachey]

Originally Posted by bonc

I get no such border on mine in 720 mode (left & right edges of screen)!

sureley that dosent occur dependant on screen size?

I am going to have a proper play around with the settings tomorrow, but I only seem to have a 'widescreen' option available on the TV when playing a DVD through the HDMI to DVI connection.

[thewonderer]

Hi,

I've moved to Aus and my dvd player has been killed my the crappy electric company over here,... So I really like the look of the denon 1920 player but need it region free. Where can i get this region free firmware? Also, is the xvid playback fine on this player... i've seen how bad the pioneer 767 is ...

Thanx in advance.

[ozdvduser]

Originally Posted by thewonderer

Hi,

I've moved to Aus and my dvd player has been killed my the crappy electric company over here,... So I really like the look of the denon 1920 player but need it region free. Where can i get this region free firmware? Also, is the xvid playback fine on this player... i've seen how bad the pioneer 767 is ...

Thanx in advance.

If you buy it in Aus it will be region free out of the box - mandated in lasw that all players sold in Aus are Multi Region.