Over all HT equipment questions for the gurus..

I've lost track of what makes a good DVD player these days?
They're all have progressive scan but what makes the one better then the rest?



When buying a receiver 5.1 or higher, I know you're suppose to look at the distortion rate and anything below .09 is good right?

Originally Posted by djsway

I've lost track of what makes a good DVD player these days?
They're all have progressive scan but what makes the one better then the rest?



When buying a receiver 5.1 or higher, I know you're suppose to look at the distortion rate and anything below .09 is good right?

Currently the "trend" for dvd players is "upconverting." there is a lot of talk about whether or not these really make a difference, but I personally believe they do. These upconverting players take your dvd's 480 signal and can boost it to hd 720p or 1080i resolution (this still isn't hd quality, as the original format is 480). Why is this "good?" The thing to remember is that when you feed the signal into the tv from a traditional player, the tv normally would handle the "upconverting." The argument is that these dvd players can do a "better" job than the tv and do less video conversions (the more digital to analog you have, the better chance the signal degrades). So for some, upconverting players do a great job, for others not even noticable.

I personally decided to bite the bullet and buy the Oppo dvd player (www.oppodigital.com and talked about a lot on the avsforums). Was the picture quality great? Yes. Was it because of the player, I would like to think so, but I don't remember how well the previous did anymore. I did get much faster menu changes then my old beat philips player, and overall am very happy with my purchase. One thing I wanted from dvd player was the ability to play divx, and oppo did it all well.

Another friend purchased the much talked about 80 buck upconverting toshiba from costco, and he loves it.

Hope that gives some insight
--soheil

Yeah the Oppo is a very good player for the money.

Personally I prefer Sony DVD players over anything else. They are a little pricy but produce a great picture.

This thread will be moot though very shortly with HD release. If you are shopping for a DVD player just buy something cheap for now and save your money for the extreme cost you'll be paying for an HD player.

Originally Posted by djsway

When buying a receiver 5.1 or higher, I know you're suppose to look at the distortion rate and anything below .09 is good right?

..given you have decent speakers, you have to listen for yourself. Some receivers sound neutral, some bright and some laid back...all depends on your taste.

i.e. Pioneer elite receivers are on the bright side, while Yamahas tend to be more neutral.

Ofcourse, mainstream (pioneer, denon, yamaha, HK) receivers in the $200-700 will all sound similar, but once you get above the $1k price point, each brand of receivers will have its own trademark sound.

For DVD players, as mentioned already, up-converting is what's popular. In my case, I was looking at the Denon 2910 until I decided to not blow all that money on a dvd player that I'll only use for like a year and get the HD DVD play or a Blue Ray.

Magnolia already has a Toshiba HD DVD up on display, might want to take a look at that. We have no content to show on it yet though. But this kind of opens a can of worms as no one knows if HD DVD or Blue Ray will succeed yet.

So what I did was instead of spending too much money on a dvd play, I just picked up a Sony upconvert DVD for like 150 bucks and using it for now until I know whether HD dvd or Blue Ray will stay.

As far as Recievers go, depending on your budget, Denons and Yamahas are generally really good.

Originally Posted by TeKNiC3

For DVD players, as mentioned already, up-converting is what's popular. In my case, I was looking at the Denon 2910 until I decided to not blow all that money on a dvd player that I'll only use for like a year and get the HD DVD play or a Blue Ray.

Magnolia already has a Toshiba HD DVD up on display, might want to take a look at that. We have no content to show on it yet though. But this kind of opens a can of worms as no one knows if HD DVD or Blue Ray will succeed yet.

So what I did was instead of spending too much money on a dvd play, I just picked up a Sony upconvert DVD for like 150 bucks and using it for now until I know whether HD dvd or Blue Ray will stay.

As far as Recievers go, depending on your budget, Denons and Yamahas are generally really good.

You work at Magnolia/Best Buy? Hook it up with a discount! Everytime I go I drop a buddy's name and they give me about 10% off.

Send em my way, I'll work out a better deal for you then 10%.

Originally Posted by vodkarocket

You work at Magnolia/Best Buy? Hook it up with a discount! Everytime I go I drop a buddy's name and they give me about 10% off.

No problem, just PM me if you ever need anything.

Originally Posted by TeKNiC3

Magnolia already has a Toshiba HD DVD up on display, might want to take a look at that. We have no content to show on it yet though. But this kind of opens a can of worms as no one knows if HD DVD or Blue Ray will succeed yet.

As far as Recievers go, depending on your budget, Denons and Yamahas are generally really good.

Just take a look at the manufacturers signed up for each side. Its easy to see whos gonna win.

And I will second the Yamaha receiver on a budget. The RX-V1500 or 2500 are bang for buck very good receivers.

Originally Posted by blownE30M3

Just take a look at the manufacturers signed up for each side. Its easy to see whos gonna win.

And I will second the Yamaha receiver on a budget. The RX-V1500 or 2500 are bang for buck very good receivers.

I got the RX-V1500 a while a go and am pretty happy with it......But the Denon 4306.....

TekNiC3, which Magnolia do you work at?

It's actually a Best Buy/Magnolia store; Blossom Hill

Patrick, my buddy also suggested the RX-V1500, so I will scoop one of those up for sure. I still need to decide on speakers though...

i would recommend to go with this Receiver, Trust me you will love it for the next 5 yrs or PM me, i'm an authorized dealer for Yamaha and i can get u a good deal.

http://www.integrahometheater.com/mo...ss=Nettune&p=i

The new Denon AVR-2807 is hard to beat for features and price. (iPod connectivity, HDMI switching, 7.1 channels, 110w/ch, great sound, XM-ready, $1100 MSRP, auto room eq)

Also, the AVR-2106 has similar features except for HDMI switching and iPod link for several hundred dollars less.

BTW, I have a Denon 2803 paired to Paradigm Studio 20's.

Originally Posted by M_Thrizzle

The new Denon AVR-2807 is hard to beat for features and price. (iPod connectivity, HDMI switching, 7.1 channels, 110w/ch, great sound, XM-ready, $1100 MSRP, auto room eq)

Also, the AVR-2106 has similar features except for HDMI switching and iPod link for several hundred dollars less.

BTW, I have a Denon 2803 paired to Paradigm Studio 20's.

Now this has me stumped. I want to be able to connect my Apple MacBook Pro through HDMI. If the TV I plan to get has HDMI, does that mean it's okay that my receiver may not?

Originally Posted by vodkarocket

Now this has me stumped. I want to be able to connect my Apple MacBook Pro through HDMI. If the TV I plan to get has HDMI, does that mean it's okay that my receiver may not?

Yes. But no audio through speakers unless you have an interconnect from the audio out of the tv to the receiver.

Originally Posted by blownE30M3

Yes. But no audio through speakers unless you have an interconnect from the audio out of the tv to the receiver.

or audio out from the macbook, though if im correct the macbook does not have digital audio out, so you won't be getting the best quality using your headphone jack obviously (unlike the new mac mini woo woo).

Also note that if you plan on getting a Sony, your going to do a little extra work to get it working as sony's run a funky res, nothing hard, takes about 20 minutes to do, and very easy step by step diys out there. This isn't meant to dissuade you from buying one, just to inform you. I had to do with my xbr, after that works like a charm.

--soheil

Originally Posted by soheilm3

or audio out from the macbook, though if im correct the macbook does not have digital audio out, so you won't be getting the best quality using your headphone jack obviously (unlike the new mac mini woo woo).

Also note that if you plan on getting a Sony, your going to do a little extra work to get it working as sony's run a funky res, nothing hard, takes about 20 minutes to do, and very easy step by step diys out there. This isn't meant to dissuade you from buying one, just to inform you. I had to do with my xbr, after that works like a charm.

--soheil

They do have digital audio out. Hence the HDMI.

Originally Posted by blownE30M3

They do have digital audio out. Hence the HDMI.

Actually the MacBook has dual link DVI according to apple (just checked on this), but guess what... it DOES have a seperate optical audio out

i'm really happy that mac is doing this (opt audio), especially with the macmini, has it's now perfect for my setup, but not going to do it for another 6 monthes or so.

cheers
--soheil