CD, DVD & SACD players
Oppo DV-981HD DVD Player Review
Conventional wisdom says that a consumer electronic product from a “brand name” will be superior to that from a small company, So you wouldn’t expect better video or premium features to be found on Oppo Digital’s DV-981HD DVD player - which retails for $229 USD and is sold over the Internet. But as we’ll see, [...]
NAD T585 Universal DVD Player Review
In many ways, NAD is the quintessential hi-fi separates company and over the years has acquired an enviable reputation for its wares – old-timers will remember the legendary 3020-series budget amplifi ers. NAD has since ‘gone AV’ – ostensibly so that its commitment to sound performance can be experienced with movies, too.
NAD chief Neil [...]
Samsung DVD-SR150M Dvd Recorder Multi Format Freeview Review
The versatile DVD-RAM format offers many of the much-loved features of hard-disk recording (chase playback, non-linear editing), but on the downside it’s still incompatible with the vast majority of DVD players on the market.
Samsung has opted for DVD-RAM on this standalone recorder, backed up by -RW, -R and -R (Dual Layer) recording. Its incompatibility with [...]
Pioneer DV-400V - budget DVD player Review
We’ve perhaps become a little blasé about budget DVD players, but this deck from Pioneer deserves nothing but your full attention.
It will obviously appeal to those who don’t want to spend a fortune to get a quality experience, but its staggering specification also means it will appeal to those who simply want a DVD [...]
Marantz SA-7S1 review
In the escalating product race between Denon and Marantz, both companies have introduced a range of high-grade disc players and amplifiers that have helped to push the boundaries of what’s commonly referred to as ’state-of-the-art’ in the world of hi-fi.
The Marantz SA-7S1 is an excellent example of this. It’s a stereo-only model and is Marantz’ [...]
The Music Hall Maverick SACD/CD Player review
I’ve always had high regard for Roy Hall of Music Hall. Blessed with a wry irreverence and ironic sense of humor, he is refreshingly free of High End pretension. The UK products that he imports and distributes in the USA - Creek Audio and Epos speakers - have always been benchmark musical communicators, reasonably priced [...]
Esoteric DV-60 CD, SACD, DVD-Audio/Video Player
In the world of high-end audio, only a handful of electronics manufacturers share Esoteric’s level of name recognition. A division of TEAC, the Esoteric line of components is an all-out assault on high-performance standards. With a reputation firmly rooted in two-channel audio, Esoteric also provides a selection of CD/SACD/DVD-A/V players that have been embraced by [...]
Toshiba HD-A20 1080p HD DVD player
Although 1080p video has been encoded on every HD DVD disc released so far, the first generation HD DVD players have been "limited" to mere 1080i output. With the second generation this changed, first with the upscale $799 HD-XA2 and now with the HD-A20. At $499 the Toshiba HD-A20 is a mere [...]
Toshiba SD-K610 DVD Player
Introduction
With
the Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) now firmly established as the most
popular consumer electronics product in history, the economics of mass
production have kicked in, with the result that an increasing number of
players are available for absurd prices. I’ve already reviewed one of
these players, the Sampo DVE-611, which is specifically notable for its
ability to become a [...]
