Good DVD player for £400 max?

[SilverPenguin7]

Have decided its time to start upgrading all my HC setup (got the bug after getting the new amp) and am now looking in to changing the DVD player. I dont have a clue who or what are the dogs right now as far as players go so any help would be great.

Having been impressed with the new Marantz amp, would I be as impressed with their DVD players? Have seen the DV4200 & DV4100OSE going for £199 & £269 respectively (SP?).

Have also read good things about Denon's range although I see most of them are a little over my budget!

As long as it has RGB output and a decent picture/sound then thats cool. CD-R, MP3 etc playback would also be fairly good I guess but not essential.

Last but not least, I would ideally like the player to be silver/gold so it goes a little with the amp (5200), have gone right off black!! lol

P.S. Have a 2 year old Sony right now (bottom of the range thing) that I got from Canada when on holiday. Does the job well but I suspect there are better players on the market!

 

[paiger]

Have a look at the new Pioneer 656. Great DVD player and also plays SACD and DVD-A. I've seem it for around £320 and www.avland.co.uk are doing it for £350 in multi-region.

Looks like a great little player.

S

 

[RichGC]

I'd recommend the Pioneer DV-350, great player around £160 amazing picture and sound. CD-R/W and MP3 playback as well. Performs as good as players twice its price.

 

[SILVERBACK]

might wanna consider the tosh 510 aswell mate from www.leconcepts.com

 

[paulr]

Just bought a Sony dvp900v in silver.You can get an import for about £370 on the net,although it has now been superceeded by the 905.
Very pleased with it so far.

http://www.dvdplayers.co.uk/relocate/index.htm

Note.This url is for imports and the instructions are not in English.

 

[SilverPenguin7]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. Will look in to all the ones mentioned.

Anyone had any experience with Marantz or the Denon 1600 (slightly over budget I know)?

 

[SilverPenguin7]

Anyone

 

[paulr]

You could try doing a search.....should wield some more info

 

[CLH]

The 905 is an excellent player and I would rate it over the 900. I have had both. It does nothing worse and virtually everything (remote and perhaps looks apart) better. Whether it is worth shouldering your depreciation and paying for a new one is your call but I would say on balance it could be worth it. I would say the picture quality is a noticeable improvement.

Interestingly, todays What HiFi reviews the 905 and calls it Superb. However, they still rate the Pioneer DV656 above it on the basis that the 656 does DVD Audio and costs the same. They make no mention of whether they consider the 656 to have the same/better/worse video or audio quality and base their choice merely on the fact that the Pioneer is a universal player.

Therefore the Sony gets 4 and the Pioneer 5. Interestingly in the inset "alternative" products they still score the Toshiba 510 as a five star product despite stating that the CD replay is poorer AND it can't do SACD. You have to wonder about WhatHiFi's credibility in that respect. How can you mark down the Sony for lack of DVD A but not mark down the Tosh for lack of SACD?

I am thoroughly impressed with the 905 in a way which TBH I wasn't with the 900. I can't put my finger on why that is. Perhaps it is just a little better in every way. The remote is awful but I've ordered an old Sony 735 remote from Sony to replace it in the expectation that it should work.

 

[Neil3000]

I have the 900 and am totally happy. I previously has the 725 which was no where near as good, the 900 is a big step forward with sound quality, has DD and DTS decoders and has superb image quality.

I agree that the remote is a bit fiddly but I have got around that by using a Pronto instead.

I bought mine from Techtronics who gave great service and the player has been chipped for RCE.

 

[kevb]

On The Home cinema choice website I saw this today. Sounds really promising.

Denon is launching its most affordable DVD player ever in the form of the DVD-900 - yours for just £250. The new deck employs 12-bit 54MHz high-end Video DACs, 24-bit 192kHz high resolution Audio DACs, and comes in black or gold finishes and a body that's just 75mm high.

When it comes to compatability, the DVD-900 can handle DVD-R, CD-R/RW, and MP3. Plus there's a 2MB Buffer Memory ensuring that both picture and sound are played without interruption when the DVD disc shifts from layer 1 to layer 2; and RGB output from the SCART.

I was looking at the Marantz 4100ose which is a looker and resonable performer too. In the end I went For the Tosh 510E excellent value and performance for £240.