Best Mid-Priced DVD/SACD/DVD-A/HDCD Player?

Another vote for the Oppo. I have the Oppo DV-980H. It doesn't have the Faroudja chip, but the video and the HDMI upconverting are very satisfactory. Oppo says the 980 is slanted more toward sound quality. For a music player I really like it. It is smooth and musical, and its internal surround processing is good enough that I usually just play its 7.1 analog output plugged into the analog inputs of my pre/pro. Plays just about every 5-1/4" disc except Blu-ray and HD DVD.

This silly little $169 player replaced a $600 Philips SA-963, which was considered a giant-killer in 2003. The Oppo beats it in every conceivable way in picture and sound. The Philips' internal processors were not as good as the ones in my Boston Acoustics Pre/Pro, but the Oppo is at least as good as the BA and maybe a little better. And on music, the Oppo is far easier to listen to with enjoyment and lack of fatigue than the Philips ever was.

The onkyo OP1000 is a great player (great BUILD as well, easily as good as a "high end" brand) if you don't mind wearing a "onkyo" badge ( :

Redbook sounds even better than my prior Jolida JD100 (I A/Bed before I sold the Jolida). A bit cleaner with a tad more resolution

I would say the Oppo 981 is quite amazing.I replaced a Pioneer Elite with the Oppo,the Oppo sounded much better for CDs,SACDs and audio DVDs.The video is also far superior.I also prefer the Oppo to my Rotel CD player.I have Thiel CS6s powered by Classe mono blocks,five channels powered by a Classe 5100 and a Classe SP-300 processor.

Have you looked into the OPPO 981HD? www.oppodigital.com
If you're patient, Google "Secrets of Home Theater". They do extensive tests and found the OPPO to be the top dog of EVERY DVD player EVER MADE. OF course they focus on DVD playback mainly. The audio part is good, but not superb. Still, I had the mighty Denon 3910 and the Pioneer 9500 and overall the $229. OPPO is a better overall. The OPPo has better intelligibility for dialogue than the Denon and I preferred CD playback to the Denon as well. The Pioneer's DVD section was decent, but not great. The audio was another story, absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately the DVD playback wasn't good enough to make me keep it, although I tried really hard to learn to love it, the CD playback was that good.

Yes you can use both dig outs atleast on ones I have used in the past. I dunno if $1200 is too much but the Lexicon RT10 is a pretty nice all around performer, my dad just gave me his when he stepped up to Esoteric and it sounds pretty damn good, picture is great also. Not too many around here have great things to say about Lexicon but I feel it is a great value and always gets pretty good across the board reviews.

The Denons seem to garner their fair share of praise. I have a 2910 that was a terrific buy for the money ($500 a year ago). I understand the 3910 and the new 3930 are supposed to punch well above their weight and they both can decode HDCDs, too. I'd have a close look at a 3930 if I were you...

BTW, I believe all the outputs are active during playback.

-RW-

I have a McCormack UDP-1 with one set of outputs (2ch) into a preamp, the other one into my 5.1 integrated. It does it all short of HDCD. Used is $2,000, mid-priced for universal players. And no need for an external DAC, it is already a fantastic redbook player.