Um okay I am not sure what your point is. Right now there are not any pre/pros except the Denon that have the DACS to convert the new audio from the movies.
Another thing even without the hi def sound the standard bitstream outputed by the new players blows away SD DVD. So until Sunfire comes out with a new pre/pro that decodes the new sound then I am fine. My HD DVD and Blu Ray still sound amazing.
Now if we are going to talk redbook cd players I would never buy a Denon for that.
Guys, let's understand what we are paying for here with the Denon; it's not a better picture it's the DACS. The majority of high end pre/pro makers have not come out with models that can decode the new hi-def audio thru HDMI(excluding the ridiculously priced, and sized, Denon preamp. I mean I'll spend $8,000 on a cartridge but $7,000 grand for a surround processor the size of Cuba?! Anyway, the Denon has high quality DACS in it which can send the hi-def audio to a standard pre/pro.
As for me I just but the Samsung BD-U5000 dual format player. It's great for me because I am heavily invested in both blu ray and hd-dvd. Now I don't have to switch players all of the time. The picture is amazing especially on standard def stuff.
I am sure someone is going to retort back that the picture is better on the Denon but I am telling you the price is all about the DACS!
I am a late adopter usually. I bought my first laserdisc player after laserdiscs were on the way out. I paid quite a bit for Japanese Muse player. I never had a VCR till a HiFi model came out. I also waited for years to get a DVD player and only purchased a high end model less than a year ago. And it is a Denon 5910CI. I still watch laserdiscs and the sound can be amazing, much better than DVD. I even bought a VHS tape the other day.
Yup, I used to be an early adopter too. I just looked into the storage room in the basement. Anybody want a lightly used Betamax player? How about an even more lightly used Sony Laser Disc Player? And of course there's that Onkyo Integra "surround sound" integrated amp. Truth is, there's a big part of me that would like to be first place in line to buy some of the new technology but with age comes wisdom ... and a dooming sense of fixed income living not many years ahead!
Rwwear, cool dude not trying to argue just get your goat up. Point taken, but my only point is $2000 is alot for Blu-Ray, hell I have $10,000 in CD player (tell me I'm not stupid) but hey it is always and will always be about what makes you feel the music and how it moves your soul.
Sony produces milestone Blu-ray disc OCT. 2 | Sony DADC has produced its 10 millionth 50 gigabyte Blu-ray disc, and the company says manufacturing yields are approaching that of standard DVD.
I can also buy a 100.00 CD player and buy more CDs to add to my 3000+ collection. But I don't think I will. And of course the Denon will be less than 2000.00. That's just retail. American Theater is already taking pre-orders for around 1500.00.
REpsonse: They do make some good stuff when we are discussing the $100 to $1,200 range but for anyone to even think about spending $2000 GÂ’s on an Blu-Ray player (made by Denon or anyone else) at this point in time- you can buy a $500 play station 3 and have the same picture quality and sound and have $1500 left over to buy all the same movies you already one on DVD or rent them from Netflix and spend the $1500 on some new HDMI cables to improve the sight and sound(ha ha) Or just buy the Denon- for $2000 and you have the best of the best!
$2000 beans??- for what? Why would anyone spend $2G's for anything made by DENON?
Until Blu-Ray and HD DVD format is really here to stay just buy an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 and have fun gaming and watching movies, these are worth the money not a $2000 Denon-
09-30-07: Cruz123 Agreed. As above, you can get into both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray for less than the cost of what most 'goners pay for a good power cord.
... or line level preamps and DACs that have been surpassed and are now stacked up collecting dust, or earlier-gen disk players that would cost more to get their lasers re-aligned than they're worth.
Compared to what many of us haved paid for audio and HT gear, buying players in BOTH formats is not that expensive. You can get a Toshiba HD A2 and Sony 300 for about $700 combined. Then sign up for both formats at Netflix and you don't have to invest heavily in the software either.
I have HD cable and a DVR, and a Toshiba HD D2 (same as A2 but from Costco w/included HDMI cable). In spite of these HD programming options, whenever I get an HD DVD from Netflix, it's a real treat with the better picture, lack of pixelation on fast action, and sound quality. Easily worth the $250 if I never buy an HD disk myself.
I definitely don't intend to buy another std. def. DVD. I pass them up at $5-6 at Sam's and Costco all the time now.
09-27-07: Newbie13 Waiting 4 years is denying yourself 4 years of a better picture. Newbie13 (Threads | Answers)
09-28-07: Flrnlamb I pesonally don't get people "waiting" here. I mean, for a couple/few hundo's, you can have HD! What's up? Flrnlamb (Threads | Answers)
And yet, by buying a scaler, a) I don't end up on the wrong side of a format war and b) I don't have to rebuy the movies that I already own.
I don't intend to rain on anybody else's parade, that's just the choice that I've made.
What are we waiting for? I got on the train and bought the Sony BDP-s300. It is cheap and the picture quality is so much better than the SD DVD. If you want the HD formats to continue support them and buy a player. 400 bucks is not unreasonable for the huge gain in picture and sound quality. If you want the HD formats to die and can live with SD DVD then do nothing. Knowing how good the HD stuff is why wait?
I got mine a couple of weeks after it came out. I must be lucky because I haven't had any problems with it. I'm more upset that there haven't been very many good games for it.
I own players of both formats, so if one format fails I'm still covered and in the interim I'm enjoying ALL of hte great HD movies that are available. Let me tell you, the difference in HD and SD dvds is incredible. The diffence is much more signficant than between redbook CD and SACD. Also, both of my players are great upconverters of SD dvds, so if one format fails, I can always use that player in another room, so its not totally a boat anchor. I have about $800 into both of my players combined, but I would not put that much into a single format until the war is settled. I would love to see what Denon can do with Blu-ray, but not yet.
Justin: The player would freeze far too often. Sony may have worked out the bugs - the two I had problems with were both purchased late last winter. At the time, I noticed I was not the only person returning them to Best Buy.
What happened with your PS3? I haven't had any problems yet. My only beef is that the PS3 remote is bluetooth so i can't program it into my remote control.
"It takes a much larger screen to take advantage of high definition. It's funny what people consider too expensive for certain improvements. Some people don't mind spending a whole lot for a power cord or interconnects but balk at paying for real differences."
Amen. Blu-ray is a HUGE improvement over standard DVD, if you have a large enough 1080p screen to appreciate it. In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of anything in audio that costs $600 (the price of a PS III) and makes even a fraction of as much of a difference. And mind you, I am a 2 channel guy and not really into HT. The problem I've had, however, is that the PS III seems to be very finicky as a Blu-Ray player. I've returned two so far out of frustration.
There was a comparison in one of the home theater magazines a few months ago between the Sony PS3 as a blu-ray and 3 other models that were all over $1,000 dollars. The PS3 had was just as good as those and had a few extra features. Plus you get to kill aliens, nazis etc with it. You can't beat that.
As far as minor differences go I have both formats with a 65", 1080p, ISF calibrated TV. Trust me there are more than minor differences between the HI-Def formats and standard DVD.
with the jury still deliberating, i don't think its a good idea to overspend on a hi def player. the studios are still only doing mostly new stuff (the vast catalogues of film don't make economic sense to remaster at this point), so jumping into the deep water is strictly at your own risk.
For a variety of reasons, I haven't purchased a HD DVD player of either (or both) formats, but as an interested observer, I've been impressed with the number of times I see ads for new releases on both standard and a HD format DVD. Purely anecdotally, it seems like there are a lot of titles being released in HD format. I agree that either or both formats could become boat anchors in the future, but it doesn't seem like either will be as limited in use as an SACD player, for example. Certainly, as long as the PlayStation has a Blu-Ray drive in it, the format will have content.
The other Denon is a transport only model. There is nothing in the world of audio/video or computers that has staying power. But, I understand your point Tvad.
It takes a much larger screen to take advantage of high definition. It's funny what people consider too expensive for certain improvements. Some people don't mind spending a whole lot for a power cord or interconnects but balk at paying for real differences.
Way too much to pay for marginal improvement. I agree totally with Tvad. Let it settle out. At least the new cheaper Sony plays CD. Something the original did not. I have one of each of the Sony's connected to a 46" LCD XBR Sony set and a Sony 40" XBR direct view. Upscaled DVD looks about as good. Kinda a disappointment overall.
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