Last year was my big expense year, bought the 950/770 combo, along with a room full of rocket speakers. Finally all paid in full, and I have a tax return

So, this year I've decided to upgrade to a new disk player. What are your opinions / recomendations on CD players, SACD, DVD-A, etc.

My initial thoughts are to buy a CD/SACD (I already have a 3 year old DVD player) .

What are other folks in the group using? Thanks for any input.

I'm using a DVD-RP82 from Panasonic. This is a CD/DVD/DVD-A player that got the high score on Secrets of Home Theater's DVD showdown.

I'd stay clear of any Pioneer-based player. They've gotten terrible ratings these last few years. Really pathetic coming from a formerly high-end product line.

Jeff

I’m using a Panasonic RP91, aging technology, but I have been very satisfied with its ability to handle triple duty as CD/DVD/DVD-A. Sonically I do not find it stellar but competent. The feature which attracted me the most on this unit was its scaling ability for video. A topic over which I would love to bang manuf heads together. Since I own a display which locks into full on progressive, for the foreseeable future. I would sure like to see scaling addressed with more urgency in future players and displays. I plan to sit on this unit (I think) for some time yet.

What's your price range? It truly depends on how much you have to spend.

If you don't have a large budget, getting a cheaper player that does video plus one of the Hi-Res formats plus progressive scan is not a bad option. There are a ton of players that do video plus one format well. If you wanted to, you could get two of these, one for either format, and play the cable switching game. Recommended names are Denon or Panasonic for DVD-A and Sony or Phillips for SACD.

I have the Sony DVP-NS500V which was Sony's entry-level DVD/SACD player. It works perfectly fine for me. Sony's 777ES (I believe that's the model) is a step up and gets some pretty good ratings and reviews.

If your budget is a bit more upscale, the upcoming Denon universal player seems intriguing. Going way upscale, Lexicon also makes a universal unit. I also seem to remember Outlaw mentioning a universal player...

I'm aiming for less than $1200 for one/2 components (i.e. I might get an SACD/CD only component, then buy DVD/DVD-A later).

I have also read bad things about Pioneer 45/47 all in one machines.

Sony makes a 222ES which supposedly (i've just read reviews) does great things for CD/SACD only.

The Denon 2900 coming out might be good, I guess I just have to hurry up and wait for it to come out.

Thanks for your input.

This what I'm doing and it better hurry up. Then again, my 950 has taught me the value in being patient.

This is what I have. It does a fine job for me. Didn't know they were still available...

I'm using the Denon 1600. It's manufactured by Panasonic with some different audio components. I did side to side comparisons with a similar Panasonic unit and I kept the Denon because I liked the sound that much better even though the Denon is about 2x the price.