Would like some ideas for good DVD(& DVD-A/SACD)/CD players below £4K

extremelydodgy

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I've been dithering a long time about this, but I'm ready to step up from my current audio-only main set-up to a decent DVD-capable player. I don't want separate players cluttering up my living room as now, and will be trying for an all-in-one source. £4000 is the maximum I'm willing to spend on the player at this time.


I need in the following order:
CD playback quality
SACD/DVD-A playback quality
DVD Video playback quality


Probably the opposite of many people choosing a DVD player, but I'm audio-centric. Do you have any good ideas for what I should start looking at?


Important note: I will not be going 5.1... it will still be a 2-channel set-up, divided unequally between headphones (~70% of time) and speakers (~30% of time).
 
Well there aren't that many players that can play all formats at very good quality. Most multiformat players tend to be the cheaper DVD players.
The only high end players I know about are the following:

Linn Unidisc 1.1 (about £6.5k so out of budget)
Linn Unidisc 2.1 (£4.5k)
Linn Unidisc SC (built in surround sound processing - £3k)
Lexicon RT-10 (£2.5k)

all the above players are just a dream for me as they are well outside of my budget. They will all play DVD-V, DVD-A, SACD & CD and should do a very good job with all the formats.

Mark.
 
/me shakes jealous fist at you :hiya:

Advantage, Bladelius, Meridian, Primare, Theta, Townshend.............
 
I was audiocentric and went for a Marantz DV8400 in an otherwise Linn system. I have never regretted the decision, but I will take a close look at the new Marantz DV9500 when it becomes available, as a possible picture upgrade, in preference to a unidisk player.
 
a mate has the Linn Unidisc 2.1, while it IS a nice player all around, I cant say the audio bettered the transport & dac he has for primary CD listening (brand escapes me) which cost him about £1700 IIRC ...
 
Theta Comli. If you only wanted CD / DVD (and not SACD/DVD-A) you could look at the older Theta models...
Also, the Krell Showcase may be worth a try

Cheers
Marck.
 
Are you interested in HD-DVD, if you are might be worth holding out awhile..
 
The Unidisk and the Naim DVD5 are ones that come readily to mind for me. I'm hoping that a friend goes through with the DVD5 purchase quickly, so I can check it out. I sold a Luxman DU-7 some time ago, which I used audio-only (never actually bothered connecting it up to a screen as I had a really crappy TV at that time and the all-in-one DVD box was proving to be a good match for said screen). I thought it was OK for that purpose, if not outstanding... unfortunately I've lost contact with the new owner, otherwise I'd ask him how it did with UK Region 2 discs. The DV9500 seems to be worth checking out and a cheap option... anyone have any ideas what sort of class the CD playback is in?


I'd particularly like to hear from people who have done the upgrade from a premium CD player to DVD, to see what compromises (if any) you made. Right now I have in my small living room an all-in-one Sony DVD player/receiver with it's own set of crappy 5.1 speakers, an SACD deck and a CD deck along with all the associated paraphenalia and it's somewhat unnecessary if I got my s*** together and just got one all-capable source, which hooks up to the rest of the stuff.


I'm also most likely going to be downgrading my speakers soon, but I do quite a lot of more critical listening on the headphones (primarily a Stax Omega II) which warrants a very good 2-channel source.
 
I actually own the Theta Carmen - which I can recommend very highly as a transport. I thought about upgrading to the Compli, however I dont have the funds at the moment.
I have heard and seen the player though - and it is excellent.

The dealer that I use is Acoustic Arts in Watford - if you are close to there I can give you contact name and numbers. Just let me know.

Rgds
Marck
 

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