jl35,
RE: Older player as transport...
I have two Denon DVD 2900’s. Excellent transport into my PS Audio DACs (PW MK II DAC and now DirectStream DAC). They do develop some glitches with the disc drawers from time to time. One of mine fails to read discs after a while (after it gets nice and warmed up), but the other has never had any issues. These are built like a tank and were great performers for the $$ when new ($500 or so, I think). Anyway, they show up used from time to time and make great transports. Find one on the used market for cheap and give it a spin. [Edit: They were $999 back in the day: https://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_11_1/denon-dvd-2900-dvd-player-1-2004.html]
RE: Older player as transport...
I have two Denon DVD 2900’s. Excellent transport into my PS Audio DACs (PW MK II DAC and now DirectStream DAC). They do develop some glitches with the disc drawers from time to time. One of mine fails to read discs after a while (after it gets nice and warmed up), but the other has never had any issues. These are built like a tank and were great performers for the $$ when new ($500 or so, I think). Anyway, they show up used from time to time and make great transports. Find one on the used market for cheap and give it a spin. [Edit: They were $999 back in the day: https://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_11_1/denon-dvd-2900-dvd-player-1-2004.html]