Panasonic Universal players

meninblack

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I'm thinking of buying a new DVD player which could also do some occasional 2-channel music duties. I need 2 SCART's with RGB passthrough for my Freeview box and CRT telly, but I don't really want a DVD-R. It would also be intersting to mess around with SACD/DVD-A.

I'm currently looking at the Pioneer models 668, 868 or 989. The 989 is all-singing, all-dancing but includes a lot of video scaling stuff thatI don't need, as well as user-selectable digital audio filters. I've seen these for £770 online.

The 868 is the old model, with the audio filters but without the video gubbins. There are a couple of places still advertising these for around £640, but I don't know if they have any actual stock.

The 668 is the entry-level one without the digital filters, and can be had for £420.

Any experience / views / other things I should look at? I really do need 2 SCART's, BTW. And it's got to be silver.
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Davewhityetagain

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Jul 24, 2005
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Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :cool:get the right tool for the job one player might do all things but I think its a jack of all trades player your left with

you would not buy a turntable to play cds so why buy a bloody dvd player for sacd or cds ?
cool.gif.9d6c72c555b38e519336a6d9b55ca875.gif


yes some people will be happy but some people are easy to please

when did you last knock a nail in with a screwdriver :raoflmfao: its a bad as people saying they are into hi fi then shoving a bloody sub on the system hi fi is two speakers any more and your on the wrong forum you need

http://www.avforums.com/

 

meninblack

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DVD player will be 95% for DVD's.

I would like to look at some of the other formats (SACD, DVD-A) but I'm not going to buy a dedicated player just to see if I like them! And I've already got a CD player.

So a top-notch DVD player that can also make areasonable fist of SACD and DVD-A as well asact asa back-up CD player looks like a good plan.

Any more aggro from you, Whitter, and I'll buy a sub. Maybe two subs. :lmao:

 
G

Guest

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two subs would be ok, then you have component speakers with active satelite bass units
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musicbox

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I take it you mean Pioneer not Panasonic.... the 868 has 2 scarts,is a very good machine and does quite well at CD and excellent on SACD. If you don't need the iLink connection for a suitable Pioneer AV amp then the 668 is possibly just as good.

 

stebbo

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musicbox wrote:

I take it you mean Pioneer not Panasonic.... the 868 has 2 scarts,is a very good machine and does quite well at CD and excellent on SACD. If you don't need the iLink connection for a suitable Pioneer AV amp then the 668 is possibly just as good.
I would agree. The 668 doesnt have video scaling or i link so was alot cheaper new, so should be a sensible price these days. I have seen them go for 250-ish on eBay.

 

cjr

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MIB.

If your buying second hand then I would go for the following devices :

Toshiba SD-900e, SD-9500

Arcams all are pretty good.

Marantz DV17

Phillips 963 SACD/DVD-V

Sony NSV-900 SACD/DVD, Sony 9000-ES SACD/DVD

All of the above are felt to be stunning at PAL PS Component that have it. And not bad at CD replay either. The Onkyo mentioned above was featured in a HFW Jap Crap special, paired with JVC amp & Eclipse speakers, thought of highly. How on earth that was the case as it was a DVD player I’ll never know.

Of the newer stuff that is on the market, Sony RDX-910 Freeview 250 Gb HDD, DVD-RW player with HDMI & Component & RGB Scarts looks a very well specced machine.

But generally you can pick up a stunning DVD player of yesteryear for pennies these days. Do some research on the AVForums to see what different people think.

Good luck.

 

meninblack

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CJ do any of your recommendations have twin SCART? IIRC, some Toshibas dont have SCART at all.
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Marantz players used to, but they have dropped this feature as part of the conspiracy to get us all to abandon our lovely bright, high-contrast, fast responding CRT's in favour of washed-out, blurry, overpriced flat-panel gizmos.
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I don't fancy the Sony DVD-R. I have its non-HDD brother, and it's OK for DVD, not so good for CD. I never use the DVD recording because the user interface has been designed for a video-games champion and I can't understand it.
f_doh.gif.2bfa1ec008d0c8800eee305d3a30be23.gif
Windows XP registry hacking is a breeze by comparison.

 

Dynamic Turtle

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Sep 23, 2005
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HADOOOOKEN!!!!, ,
Well, my advice would be not to bother with dvd-audio, such is the paucity of available software (and I mean it is really thin on the ground). SACD is well worth checking out IMO, particularly if you're into classical & audiophile stuff.

I can recommend the Pioneer dvd players highly - they really are excellent in terms of PQ, reliability and operation. Their Achilles' heel is cd and to a lesser extent, sacd playback. Itspretty much on the nose, but IME suffers from lean bass and a sometimes strident treble. Not really the best for long-term musical satisfaction.

Denon's 2900 is very well screwed together, produces a wonderful analogue picture and is very good at SACD. It's let down by awful reliability and a very flat, "matter of fact" cd sound. Don't ask me why there is such a difference in cd & sacd performance - I don't know, but its there. Seeing as you have a dedicated cdp already, want a quality picture and goodsacd, then this may be the best all-round compromise. You have been warned about reliability issue though.

If you're willing to sacrifice a little PQ (and I mean a little) you could go for the Sony DVP-NS900V. These go for around £150 now and are a steal for the money. Good build quality (R-core transformer!!), very acceptable picture andsmoooooooth cd & sacd playback all up for grabs. I even think this player outperforms my E.sound CD-E5 on vocals, its that good. Its smoothness means leading edges suffer a bit however, which gives acoustic music a slightly soft sound. Overall, its very easy on the ear and great for long listening sessions. Unfortunately, it uses a Sony KHM transport mech, which is very unreliable and prone to early failure. Buy used models carefully.

Which leads us to the Philips 963SA. Very good all-rounder. Excellent analogue PQ andwell balanced cd & sacd playback. This player's strength is cd & sacd. with 192khz upsampling on, it has a sweet high-end, lean-but-silky mid-range, and decent enough bass. Just a very convincing all-rounder and quite musical if you ask me. Great detail retrieval too. Its let down buy average build quality & components though - switching power supply and a cheesy, unreliable transport mech. Around £150 on the bay, but carefully!

Don't have any experience with the marantz dvd players, but they're supposed to sound better than their Pioneer counterparts. Nice discrete HDAM analogue output stages in the 7600 & 8400. Should be worth a gander....

Rgds,

DT

 

Dynamic Turtle

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Sep 23, 2005
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HADOOOOKEN!!!!, ,
meninblack wrote:

Marantz players used to, but they have dropped this feature as part of the conspiracy to get us all to abandon our lovely bright, high-contrast, fast responding CRT's in favour of washed-out, blurry, overpriced flat-panel gizmos.
cool.gif.9d6c72c555b38e519336a6d9b55ca875.gif
Ain't that the truth
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Dynamic Turtle

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Sep 23, 2005
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HADOOOOKEN!!!!, ,
Davewhityetagain wrote:

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :cool:get the right tool for the job one player might do all things but I think its a jack of all trades player your left withyou would not buy a turntable to play cds so why buy a bloody dvd player for sacd or cds ?
cool.gif.9d6c72c555b38e519336a6d9b55ca875.gif


yes some people will be happy but some people are easy to please

when did you last knock a nail in with a screwdriver :raoflmfao: its a bad as people saying they are into hi fi then shoving a bloody sub on the system hi fi is two speakers any more and your on the wrong forum you need

http://www.avforums.com/
Nowt wrong with AVF dave. Someone has to patrolit, to guide the noobs away from the AV dark side!!

 

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