Universal Digital Players


Are most if not all of the current universal players basically repackaged Pioneer players? It makes me wonder about price versus performance if that is the case. I used to own a Theta DaViD which was based on a Pioneer DVD player and while it was a very good DVD transport it really was not better in my system than the Pioneer DV-09.
mchd1
The vast majority of the universal players use Pioneer OEM kits. Many of the mid-fi players are Pioneer OEM kits (Pioneer, Onkyo, etc.) Nearly all of the "high-end" players are Pioneer OEM kits (Lexicon, McCormack, Teac, etc.). The bulk of the remainder use Denon kits (Denon, Marantz, etc.). Then there's the Linn Silverdisk system.

That pretty much covers it, I think.
I'm disapointed to hear the DaViD wasn't as good as the DV09. I had a DV09 and was disappointed about everything except thte picture. Now I have the Pioneer AX10. I smokes the DV09. Not even close hands down. DVDA scores a 10 SACD scores a 9.5 and Redbook CD scores a 9. BTW, this is based on experience with ML 39, Muse 9 Gen 4 Sig, Waida 7/9 combo and a BAT VK-10.

But back to your question I THINK (don't KNOW) that they may use Panasonic transports as well.

Later

Jon