Best DVD player for £1000?

B

Brad_Porter

Guest
Hi all,

Can someone recommend a DVD player for around the £1,000 mark?

I have heard the arcam DV-88 is really good. How does everyone else feel?

Regards,
Brad

---------------------------------
The more I listen, the more I want to buy
 
I would get either the Toshiba SD900E £699 at leconcepts

or the Arcam FMJ DV27 but you would need to save some more pennies ;)
 
:D

do your self a favour and save around 300 quid and by the tosh sd 900e from leconcepts.

the player is fantastic and has progressive scan, 300 more if you want it on the arcam.

i was gonna buy the arcam but the pricing is a larf compared to the deal @ leconcepts for the tosh

use the 300 you'll save for a holiday or something.

Better ring them quick stocks are low...

all the best
 
Or you could have a look at the Primare V25, thats what i have seen to be the best on that budget. i have not got mine yet as i am gonna compare it to the arcam dv27 tomorrow! the arcam is £600 more, but i wanna see what this £600 difference will get me...:D
 
Originally posted by Brad_Porter
Can someone recommend a DVD player for around the £1,000 mark?I have heard the arcam DV-88 is really good. How does everyone else feel?

It's a very worthwhile £500 player, but the competition is becoming fierce. Try it yourself against the new £350 designs. It's what you think that counts.
 
dts_boy

I would be very interested to see how the primare compares to the arcam, i too was very impressed with the primare and felt it compared favourably with the meridian (retails at 2.5k).
 
I think the Arcam is only really worth the money if you have the component progressive scan board - that's £1,300 total. It's one of the few players that can do both PAL and NTSC progressive output competently.

It depends what you're connecting it too of course as you'll only get the full benefit on a projector or plasma display. It's an excellent player of course, I saw one at the weekend hooked upto a Panasonic plasma and the picture was stunning.
 
well looked at (and listened to) both the arcam dv27 and primare v25 today. the picture on the arcam was superb and vould not fault it. with CDs its typically arcam - detailed and an easy listen. however, the primare was just as good with DVDs and much better when it came to CD playback. also, like the arcam can be made multiregion and Pal progressive via service menus. i chose the Primare in the end and should receive mine in a few weeks!:D as an extra listen i had a listen to a cyrus dvd7 with a PSXr power supply and was amazed at how good that was as a cd player. not the best choice when it came to films but it depends what you are looking for...
 
Originally posted by Brad_Porter
Can someone recommend a DVD player for around the £1,000 mark?

Get a copy of the latest What HiFi - they have a group test of several DVD players in the £800-£1000 range, including the Primare DV25.

Results are interesting (from memory this is mind) - Pioneer 747A won because of its DVD performance and because it plays everything although they went on the say that with CDs it was only the equal of a top £200 CD player - that wouldn't be good enough for me.

The Cyrus was the best with CDs (by far) but not that good with DVDs.

The Primare came out well although they said that it's picture (in non progressive mode) wasn't the best in the group - they liked it with music but criticised something about the speed of the bass I seem to remember.

DV88 came out pretty well but they said it seems expensive now and that it's CD replay isn't as competitive as it once was.

For what it's worth, I'd say the Primare sounds like a good bet, assuming that you're not concerned about DVD-A and SACD.

Of course what we really want is a player that does everything the 747A does but that does everything really well.

Matt.
 
An interesting comment, as when what hifi initially reviewed the 747a, they commented that although it was multi format they weren’t that impressed. They felt that a Toshiba 510 offered a much better picture and was £500 cheaper, and this could be spent on a dedicated SACD player. Seems that what hifi are changing their tune!
 
Brad_Porter,

It may help if you would let us know what equipment you intend to connect to DVD player.

For example, are you planning to connect to AV processor via SPDIF or do you want DVD player to decode surround information and output 6 analogue channels.

Also, important is what are you going to use as display device and how is that connected.
 
Equipment list as requested..........

1 x Denon 3802 AV Amplifier
2 x M&K S85
1 x M&K S85C
2 x M&K K4
1 x M&K V125
1 x Sony Wega 32inch Widescreen via RGB / S-Video (..the latter seems to give a better picture you know..!)

This help?
 
Originally posted by Laingy
An interesting comment, as when what hifi initially reviewed the 747a, they commented that although it was multi format they weren’t that impressed. They felt that a Toshiba 510 offered a much better picture and was £500 cheaper, and this could be spent on a dedicated SACD player. Seems that what hifi are changing their tune!

Maybe they unpacked it and listened to it this time! :blush:

Matt.

p.s. The above is a "tongue in cheek" comment - I've no doubt that What HiFi thoroughly, objectively and scientifically test every single piece of equipment they review.
 
Originally posted by Matt F
I've no doubt that What HiFi thoroughly, objectively and scientifically test every single piece of equipment they review.

Pardon my asking, but where do they publish the results of these tests?
 
Brad_Porter,

I assume that you would want to connect DVD player to your Denon 3802 via SPDIF (either coax or optical).

I would like to plant an idea of using HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer) instead of traditional DVD player. Several good reasons:
  • Building a good HTPC will cost approx £1,000
  • HTPC Sound and Video quality (assuming properly setup) cannot be matched by any traditional equipment short of spending at least £3,000. You will be getting so much more for your money.
  • Many additional benefits like managing your own playlists, using it to access information about DVD you are watching, e-mail etc. Imagine thinking of CD you want to play and getting it by just pointing and clicking.
  • Very good if you like tweaking as there are endless possibilities.
I was in the same shoes as you couple of years ago when I thought DVD upgrade is due. I went for HTPC, The quality then was stunning but the improvements with new software have since (for a small additional cost) made it even better.

My system has similar root to yours, as I decided to upgrade other parts of the system from the money I saved by using HTPC. I am currently feeding HTPC audio via SPDIF to Lexicon MC-12B, that is connected to a set of 6 M&K active speakers. Video is connected to JVC D-ILA projector via VGA cable projecting on 7’ screen.

I would like very much to try one of the (obscenely) expensive DVD players to see how much improvement I would get over HTPC. If anyone is interested in participating in such a test please let me know.
 
Why is HTPC better quality then, say, a £,2500 DVD player?

Explain in basic for me!!
 
Brad,

In as-basic-as-possible-speak, for best picture quality on a projector or plasma, or progressive TV, the 50 "images" a second from a UK DVD must be combined into 2x25 (de-interlaced) and expanded to the size of the display (scaled) - both processes are difficult. A HTPC can do both of these with ease, and cheapily. A DVD player can de-interlaced well if it has good components (read usually expensive) but the scaling must be done by the display, or something else, costing a lot (read averaged about $4K before, but getting cheaper.)

Ironically the HTPC route is not useful to you with the Wega TV, as the TV must accept a de-interlaced (or progressive) signal to work. AFAIK only the loewe and one or two of the v. latest tosh and panasonic models have this feature.
 
Listen mate - if you carry on the way you are going, Ill end up getting a damn good thrashing from the wife.

Well, to be fair, Ill purchase a better TV and then Ill get a damn good thrashing from my wife.

Hmmmm. Rather unsure of whether Ill enjoy that or not.......:D
 
New TV it is then! :D

If not, the Tosh 900e or the Denon 3800 seem to be the best regarded players under 1K at the moment...
 

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