newbie advice pls - marantz or pioneer?

[danrichmond]

Hello everyone, As you can see I am new to these forums, so I will tell you in advance - i'm no expert!

ok, I have done a lot of searching around on the DVD section and had made my mind up on the Pioneer DV575. Seems a good player, but..

I have just read a review in a magazine on the new Marantz model no. DV4500. This seems more ideal for me. According to the review it is far better than budget models. It got full marks for picture, sound, and build quality.

I have read some remarks about image 'flicker' on the pioneer which I dont like the sound of. I have also read the marantz player are much better with CD music, which is a BIG bonus to me. I dont mind spending extra on a better unit i.e. the Marantz.

Now I think I have definately decided on the Marantz. I also think it looks a far nicer machine. I have done a lot of searching for good prices but cant seem to find much discount. Can anyone tell me of anywhere cheap?? An alternative is eBay. I have seen one on there (I think it's still on) much cheaper than the £200 retail price. If I remember rightly it was £165. Does this seem a good deal? The advert says it is brand new with full warranty.

[GFS AV]

Hi, welcome!

You may have spotted me whilst looking for posts on the Marantz

I am a lucky owner of a DV4500 and am over the moon with it! This is an excellent piece of kit from Marantz - at £165 I say just go for it! I paid £180 for mine

For £165 it really is a bargain. For the extra £65 over the Pioneer you get much more in my opinion. It just feels like a quality unit made to last. I wont go into more ravings - see other threads/posts.

If you go for it, let us know what you think mate

[Dean]

The flicker on the Pio 575 is mainly restricted to a small number of users and this is likely to be issues with the display rather than the player. I know i certainly don't see any flicker with mine and works like a dream. Only complaint is that is lacks a test tone for the onboard decoders but apart from that it's great. The marantz has got good review as well so really down to you, although the Pio is around £60 cheaper.

[Ian C.]

The Marantz is £179.95(multi region)at Superfi.co.uk.
I read somewere, cant find it again that multi-region
can effect picture quality is that the case or does it
make no difference(sorry for going off thread a bit).
Not used Superfi but was thinking of going to the one
in Birmingham.I was originally drawn to Superfi because
I was going to get the 575 and they have it in black.

[Dean]

Not sure what you mean but having multi-region definitely does not have a detrimental effect on picture quality. NTSC colour system does differ from PAL though, with only 480 lines of resolution compared to PAL. But the advantage of NTSC is there is no (4%) speedup as wih PAL discs, which is why PAL movies are shorter in length time-wise than there NTSC counterparts.

[Ian C.]

Thats cleared that up