[Monk888]

Having a good appreciation for HFi sound, I am very pleased with my audio system Naim CD 3.5, Arcam 10 amp and Ruark speakers.

Now I've bought a 25" Sony TV with 4 speaker Nicam from a friend, the picture is still excellent and I have no immediate plans to upgrade the TV.

DVD player budget up to £300, is it worth it with a 4yearold Sony Telly?


I am looking to purchase a DVD player and the Pioneer DVD players seem about the best for the money. I am considering the DV-565-A (£250), DV-656A (£400) and a second hand DV737 (£250, £700 in 2001 ). I have already purchased a £40 IXIO scart cable which made a huge difference to the picture quality with VHS(more vivid colours), which I intend to use with the DVD player also.

So why I am confused: I heard the Pioneer DV656 offers a slightly better picture than the DV565, but all the demos with DVDs have been shown on a 32" inch widescreen sony 100Hz vega TV, a very good source.

As this is my 1st DVD player, would I really notice the difference between the DV565 and the DVD656 (the price different is only about £80 as the DV656 has been heavily discounted to around £285 multi-regioned) with a 25" Sony TV that's about
4 years old.

The confusion arises I guess for many HiFi people, who don't care about DVD-A or SuperCD, they just want a DVD player that offers excellent picture quality and plays MP3, so it seems hard from magazine reviews to judge which DVD offers the best video performance in each respective price bracket and reviews seem to be based on overall performance (including DVD-A)

Also, is the Pioneer DV565 really in a different league in picture quality to the Toshiba SD330E, I guess so, but on a 25 inch TV ?

Thanks for any advice,
MikeP

[Bernard Barnett]

Mike, on a 25-inch screen I'd suggest you won't see a huge difference in quality between many DVD players. Pioneer is the right choice in my opinion but I'd be inclined to try to pick up a second-hand 717 (no longer made). I've been through several "upgrades" since then and am still kicking myself for having got rid of it.

[Garrett]

Have you seen a demo between the 656 and the 565. In the awards issues it says the 565 is as every bit as good as the 656.
The 565 is a better player than the 330 although not a big, big difference it not only you get SACD and DVD-A. but I had a picture CD and played it on both machines and the 656 played the pictures more stable and had a better interface.

[hornydragon]

For PQ i would suggest possibly saving money on the DVD and upgrading other parts!
Perhaps a Tosh SD330 from RS http://www.richersounds.com/index.ph...l.php&p=301209 Or if you are short on scarts look for a dual scart player with RGB passthrough http://www.richersounds.com/index.ph...l.php&p=301507 I suggest a multiregion machine as it allows you access to cheap films on R3 from CDwow and earlier releases on R! from loads of suppliers.

[Monk888]

Hi Garrett,

I did have a demo of the Pioneer 656 v 565 at Sevenoaks, they played the Gladitor and Amerian Beauty DVD movies and I thought the 656 edged it with detail and more vibrant colours. I think I'll go back with a older movie that was tranfered to DVD from the original analogue source (e.g BULLET), as they differences should be more extreme and should be a real test for DVD Video.

I'm assuming chossing a good DVD video players is a bit like good audio CD players, ie. a better CD player will make a better effort of a older analogue recording. An older nosier recoding is more of a challenge for the digital circuitry (better players have better digital circuity with high s/n ratio and less digital noise) will sound much better, this is a real test that should produce blatent results, here's hoping.

Cheers,

MikeP

[Garrett]

Although the Richer Sounds are a bit cheaper I do not think they can be guaranteed UK sourced. But the 330 I saw from Amazon did not seem a UK model since the instruction manual was a photocopy.

[Monk888]

Hi Garrett,

So what's is disadvantage of a grey import other than warranty for not being UK sourced ?

Is the PSU changed (by Richer Sounds engineers) from 115v to 240v, and thus standards for noise supression may not as good as the UK sourced product ?

Cheers,

Mike P



BTW - went to SevenOaks last night after work and they kindly allowed me to borrow a Pioneer DV565 and a DV656 (after leaving a security deposit) for comparison with my Sony 25" TV.

[hornydragon]

Noticed Play are doing the Tosh 330 for £79.99
http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page...G&title=137408

[alfablue]

I got a 656A multiregion from Hifistore @ £279 - undercutting Richer by £20, and very quick delivery - am delighted with it! Just I had to add £60 for SACD interconnects - so it boosts the budget a bit if you want to use it's full capabilities.

I heard the 565 got great reviews and has some extra features, but may have poorer "insides"

[alfablue]

just to add, it was a uk model, not a grey import

[mammoth]

Go for the tosh 330 from 24-7 electrical
full uk spec. £79.95 multi region.

[Garrett]

Originally posted by mikepaul
Hi Garrett,

So what's is disadvantage of a grey import other than warranty for not being UK sourced ?

Just conjecture but the electrics could be different as our electrical system is different; the safety specs could e not to UK standards.

As to the guarantee once the player has been chipped it invalidates the manufactures warrant so has to be guaranteed by the suppliers.