Just got a Marantz DV8400 and...

[rsjt]

it's fantastic, and would recommend it as an alternative to those looking at universal players such as the Denon 2900 (which was too chunky for my cabinet) and the Pioneer 868 (not a fan of the styling) into their system, although it's a bit pricer than both. SACD and DVD-Audio both fantastic. SACD sounds as good if not better than my stereo only Sony 555ES. DVD Audio significantly better than my Toshiba SD900E. Picture quality on a par via RGB Scart with the Toshiba SD900E, which is saying something. Unfortunately I don't have a plasma or projector so I can't comment on component/DVI performance. Just thought I'd post my comments for those interested in getting a universal player.

 

[gandley]

so you dont know its a pioneer 757 clone then. its just marantz add some improved audio features

 

[rsjt]

Not sure if I care if it's been cloned or not. It's a superb player for my needs and does more (SACD and Pal progressive) than my SD900e did, great player though that is. Just thought it would be useful to let people know of an alternative if, for whatever reason, you don't want to go down the Denon/Pioneer route. BTW how are you finding the A11 compared to the 9500 ?

 

[gandley]

sorry didnt mean that to sound sarky.

the A11 progressive out is far superior to the 9500e.
the 9500e is just for the pany upstairs for the wife.

 

[esquire415]

I love the way the Marantz 8400 looks. It does have that build quality and reference styling. Unfortunately it didn't do well in Secrets of Home Theater & Hi-Fi's Shootout. It had the same problems as the Pioneers but it has an improved audio. They ranked it 37th out of the current crop of 68 DVD players. The Denon 5900 came out on top. Going UP the Denon route could be a bit expensive, however, the Denon 2900, although may not be as good in audio as the Marantz but better in video could be an alternative.

"The DV-8400 is Marantz's newest universal player. It begins life as an OEM’d Pioneer kit, although the audio stage is entirely new. The player suffers from many of the same problems associated with Pioneer's previous units. Even the DVI-out has the chroma upsampling problem, but I was not able to test it since the port was not active when I had the player. The audio stage of this player is excellent though, but it lacks a little in the setup and bass management areas."

The Secrets DVD Player Benchmark
CUE & 4:2:0 IC Problems Explained

 

[kumamoto]

The marantz 8400 is a real beauty, not to mention it's audio prowess . It was my first choice until i saw some not very good reviews of the player. It is also much more expensive than other equally competent universal dvd players, in the end i took the denon 2900 route

 

[Ed Selley]

I've used one on and off for testing and an 8300 before that. In picture terms, it has no advantage over considerably cheaper units, but it is sonically brilliant- SACD and CD in particular are outstanding. As an audio unit that produces a reasonable picture, I really like it. In fact, I'm going to have to find an excuse to listen to some SACD's in the dem room soon .

 

[nthornhill]

Can anyone tell me the difference between the 8300 and 8400 in terms of music? There are still 8300s to be had at nice discount, and for an all-Marantz system I will be getting a Marantz player, so the issue is whether the 8400 is worth an extra 500ish euros above an older 8300.

I have no DVI-based screen at the moment (although a large LCD screen is probably a future investment - but by that time DVI will probably be dead in favour of HDMI), and for me music is much more important than a slightly improved picture.

Anyone with advice?

 

[Ed Selley]

Originally posted by nthornhill
Can anyone tell me the difference between the 8300 and 8400 in terms of music? There are still 8300s to be had at nice discount, and for an all-Marantz system I will be getting a Marantz player, so the issue is whether the 8400 is worth an extra 500ish euros above an older 8300.

The 8400 has sharpened up DVD-A playback over the 8300- Marantz prefers SACD as a format and it generally plays better on their equipment. The 8300 isn't a bad DVD-A player but it is certainly the weakest of the formats. The 8400 improves on it and through the DVI out, the picture is more than respectable. It comes in silver as well which if you hate champagne as much as I do, is very important.

 

[nthornhill]

That's interesting considering all the reviews of the 8300 implied that SACD replay was weaker than DVD-A replay. I take it you have a different view on that?

 

[Ed Selley]

Well, my SACD opinions aren't helped by the fact we have a shiny SA-17 in the room as well which is the best SACD player I've ever heard. The 8300 struck me as having DVD-A very much as an afterthought and it is outperformed by the newer (but much cheaper) DV6400 whilst the 8400 is much better and is the best universal I've heard but I have to stress that unless you're using DVI, the picture is no better than say a Denon DV2200.

 

[Kazman]

Does the 8400 suffer from CUE?

 

[Ed Selley]

I've no idea- I'm actually rather short sighted and play little attention to things that I know will really annoy me I know that it didn't show any chroma problems on our Panasonic PW4 before we wrecked it playing Gran Turismo.

 

[nthornhill]

Very helpful comments... Hopefully you can answer a couple more:

Assuming I'm after a 1-make Marantz solution, coupling the SR9200 with a Marantz disk spinner from the range series, and that my priorities are CD, then DVD-V (orchestral and opera with the occasional movie), then SACD with DVD-A pulling up the rear, what would be the logical machine to buy?

The reason I'm thinking about the 8300 is that it is selling for around 1300 euros here, compared to 1800 euros for the 8400. That is a very large difference for a very similar feature set. I'm not worried about DVI since it is likely to have a very short shelf life anyway (given HDMI).

Would a 6400 approach the CD and SACD replay quality of the 8300, for example?

Oh, and I want the black version anyway, so mismatch silver/champagne is not an issue

 

[Ed Selley]

Well the DV6400 is a good machine sonically and I have been very impressed with our unit. It is very close to an 8300 in most measured sonic areas. I must stress though that it doesn't have the lovely "high end" feel of the 8300 which is hard to quantify but means a great deal to me at least. The picture performance of the 6400 is not as good as its big brother (which does at least offer NTSC Prog scan) and almost everybody I know who bought a "music preferance" multichannel system ended up watching more films than they ever thought they would!.

 

[nthornhill]

I ended up going for the DV8400... Thanks for the advice, which tipped the balance in favour of paying more for a better quality result.

As for movies vs. music, that won't happen in this case. Given the ~300 DVD-V collection of opera/classical vs. about 10 DVD-V movies there will be plenty of DVDs watched, but the music remains the important factor. And the CD collection is far larger, and will remain so with plenty of SACDs added as good classical recordings become available

 

[Ed Selley]

Well you won't regret your choice . The two units are very accomplished and have given me some pleasurable hours in our dem room in my time here. As I've said before, the 8400 is my favourite sounding universal player and The 92/300 is a sonic masterpiece (if not quite up there in the video switching stakes).