[Martyn]

Hi, folks.

There seem to be plenty of threads for "best cheap player" and the like, but not much for universal players up to $2,000. Any suggestions and comparisons, especially when based on first-hand listening and viewing, for products up to this price that can produce high quality stereo and multichannel sound from CDs and SACDs, and can also do a decent job at video? I prefer performance to bells & whistles.

I'm close to buying an Arcam DV137 but am very nervous about its apparent unreliability, especially since I don't have a dealer within easy reach. I've also considered a Denon 3930CI, but am not quite convinced that it's good enough (although it might be and I prefer the price). If anyone has done a direct comparison between these two models, I'd be very interested to hear your opinion.

What else should I consider? I'm running an Arcam AVR350 to a 50" 1080i Toshiba plasma and fairly serious diy full-range speakers. My present player is a surprisingly capable five year old Denon DV3300. Thanks in advance,

Martyn

[honesthoff]

Check out the Lexicon or McCormack.

[Woodsea]

How about an Oppo 980 for under $200.  It does SACD thru HDMI 1.2, upconverts to 1080p and has USB2.  Then you would have more than $1800 for a new 1080p HD monitor.

[Philistine]

I have a Modwright Sony CDP and an Oppo so can compare the two, the Oppo will do the job on video, sacd and DVD-A.  I'm not so hot on its CD performance, its nowhere near as good as my Modwright or Bolder modded SB3.
One option could be to buy the Oppo, and then if you don't like the CD performance you could use an external DAC?  With new HD disc formats I would be reluctant to invest in a high cost universal player, at least with an external DAC you would have greater future flexibility. 

[Woodsea]

That future unclear aspect is why I pulled the plug on this Oppo and not buy into HD-DVD or BR.  More stuff is already in the works.

[Audiovista]

I'm a huge Denon fan - well engineered, reliable, even upgradeable (even though I would not recommend that).

My 2 cents....

Boris

[Martyn]

Wow, thanks for so many enthusiastic replies so quickly. I doubt that I'll be satisfied with the Oppo's sound and assumed that this would apply to the SACD sound too, meaning that I'd still need a good SACD player. I'm not really interested in HD/BR - my TV is only 18 months old and we don't watch more than two movies a week (we don't watch any broadcast TV at all), so I won't be buying a new one until this one dies. I'll read up on Lexicon and McCormack. I've had a few suggestions for Marantz and NAD, but the Denon 3930 seems to be comparable. Keep the ideas coming...

[Dan Driscoll]

A used Denon 5910Ci is in your range and may have the best overall combination of audio and video. For straight up audio performance I think the McCormack UDP-1 beats the Denon, at the sacrifice of the video side.

FTR, my experience with both is very limited and I heard them in different systems, so take my comments with a large dose of salt.