Arcam dv88 or tosh sd-900

nobby

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hi

i know these two are cracker machines but which one is the best?

i will be eventually using it with a sony 10ht projector with a yammy ax-1 amp once my av room is built.

so i want the machine with the best component / progressive picture along with decent audio quality ... not lookin much am i ???

at the moment the budget sways towards the tosh as it has been heavily discounted lately due to new model due, but the arcam sounds to be a better machine and slightly more future proofed.

NB i have yest to demo these two machines.

If somebody else has any other suggestions feel free to let me know ... budget around a grand!

cheers dudes!:confused:
 
Hi Nobby,

I 'lived' with an 88 for 3 months, after 2 changes and several firmware upgrades, I gave up and bought a Pioneer 737. When the 88 works, its stunning. But, lots of problems including lip sync issues, sound drop outs (and no, I didnt have a Yamaha amp), stuck menus and films stopping part way through, I gave up. Although not a major problem, the Arcam doesnt even have a standby button, which is plain annoying.

The Pioneer, although matching the Arcam for film sound, was just slightly inferior on picture quality, but becuase it played everything flawlessly, it was an absolute delight.

In the past few weeks, I have bought a 900e, and its proved a blinding machine with picture quality IMHO stomping on the other two. It plays eveything you chuck at it and is even RCE compatible.

I think you can tell where my vote goes :)
 
The only one I'd consider instead of the Tosh 900e would be the Arcam FMJ27
 
Jasonjo, I agree that you buy to your needs.

But with all due respect, you have only just bought your DV88 and haven't, I assume, encountered any of its problems yet. The Tosh is a better DVD player (its main purpose), and I use the DAC's in my KAVC A1SE for music. If its that 'Arcam' sound you like, I would still buy the Tosh and a CD72 for approx the same money as a DV88 and live with equipment that I know will work and not annoy the t1ts off me :)

All IMHO of course :)
 
I went for the FMJ, primarily for the component progressive PAL output. It really makes a big difference on a 92" screen. I don't use it for CDs.

I'd consider the Tosh or even the Sony 900.

I think the Sony 9000 also got a good review in this month's Hi-Fi Choice.
 
I've demoed them both, and bought the SD900 because of its superior DVD playback, if you're very concerned about CD stereo playback the Arcam's a better machine though.

nobby - are you Andy Patterson by any chance?????
 
Hi - Thanks for all the comments...

However, you all seem to have missed the point. I chose the Arcam based upon my OWN criteria. Two of the main reasons why were:

1. I wanted an all in one machine (DVD & CD)

2. Upgradeable in the future.

3. Product support dealer help.

4. All the other things I listed...

I agree the Tosh was great and may have a better picture (slightly ;)) but the Arcam was a closer match to my needs, its simple as that...However good the Tosh is, I dont care...it wasnt for me and maybe better suited to some people rather than the SD900E

JJ
 
Originally posted by Jasonjo
Hi - Thanks for all the comments...

However, you all seem to have missed the point. I chose the Arcam based upon my OWN criteria. Two of the main reasons why were:

1. I wanted an all in one machine (DVD & CD)

2. Upgradeable in the future.

3. Product support dealer help.

4. All the other things I listed...

I agree the Tosh was great and may have a better picture (slightly ;)) but the Arcam was a closer match to my needs, its simple as that...However good the Tosh is, I dont care...it wasnt for me and maybe better suited to some people rather than the SD900E

JJ

JJ shouldn't you of posted this in your Thread ;)
 
errr...no, as I already went though this in my original post.

I quote:

What swung it for me with the Arcam...ok here goes...

What was important to ME....

Very good video, excellent CD replay, mutliregion without mods, compat with pronto, ability to upgrade in future without binning the box and dealer support if there are any problems...

Denon 2800 - it seems complete pot luck whether you get a good player or not...the thread on this forum for video artifacts shows how many of the players cannot even play basic scenes without blocking/artigfacts. CD sounds wasn't exactly stunning either.

Toshiba 900E - very nice player, my second fave, but didn't feel convinced with CD replay. Also, why do companies insist on using their own finish which deosn't match anything else and only release the player in ONE finish. Black may be less fashionable, but it is nice to have the choice.

Pioneer 747 - nice machine, again not convinced with CD replay

The Arcam fulfils all of my requirements where the other players only satisfy 80-90% of them.

Oh and also the fact that Arcam are the only dealer who actually participate in this forum (take a bow John Dawson ) - when was the last time you saw a post from the chairman or Pioneer, Toshiba or Denon.

Maybe people didnt spot this in my original thread :confused:

JJ
 
er JJ i did read that in your thread but this is nobby's thread hence the comments in it are aimed at him, yes I Know your mentioned by one of the posters.
 
:cool:

i appreciate the feedback, i think i may seriously look at the tosh as an option, plus it works out cheaper than the arcam.

how would one rate it against the new pioneer?

i like pioneer kit as i currently own the 717 but i want the best machine possible for my new av set up!

thanx again, and posts most welcome
 
Just thought I'd say that I have the Arcam DV88 and love it. It has excellent picture and DVD sound quality and very good CD playback sound quality.

I've never had any problems with my current collection of ~30 DVDs or any borrows from the library. (Except one really dirty copy of the Mummy!)

Also my DV88 seems to have a working standby mode so I'm not sure what problem others have?

I'm absolutely not quibbling with anybody else's experiences and I haven't seen the Tosh in action. I just thought I'd give some balance by showing that the DV88 isn't necessarily a turkey.

Demo before you buy. Enjoy you DVDs after you buy. Simple :)

Charles.
 
Originally posted by baileych

Also my DV88 seems to have a working standby mode so I'm not sure what problem others have?

The standby mode has to be activated by pressing the button on the unit, rather than from a remote. Annoying from a convenience point of view and a pain when you are trying to set macros on a Pronto :)
 
On mine, the remote switches between full on (green power light) and standby (red light). There are discrete on/off codes for programming in to the pronto which do off (to standby) and on (from standby).

In this way it works like every other bit of kit which I have. (Obviously if it's fully off you have to go up to it and depress the power button to tun it on, but once on you can just switch between standby and on with the remote.)

How are people expecting standby to work? :confused:

Charles.
 
IIRC the standby button issue was something that was part of an early software upgrade ??

certainly my dv27 works fine off the remote ...
 
With the latest version of firmware (1.76+) Arcam have added discrete codes for on and off. These can be used by the pronto for macros etc.

See the component CCF's section on www.remotecentral.com where I have posted all the IR codes for pronto usage including new codes added in firmware 1.76+

HTH

JJ
 
I thought the discrete codes were in version 1.74+? That's certainly the version which I have.

Apparently the 1.76 code turns off reading of the parity bit in the RC5 code so you may get less reliable remote behaviour.

Charles.
 
FYI folks the current version of the software is now 1.78 ...
 
... and the latest disc firmware versions are LT23, LK18 and LO14.

I installed them all this morning.
 

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