Upcoming universal player releases any new info?

Mark... no chroma bug as far as I can tell and no macro blocking, excessive video noise ect.

Just the best video I have ever seen whithout all the Denon problems I had whith my 5900/3910.

Greg

The top player right now for 2500.00 or less is the Onkyo sp 1000 for audio and video and build quality.
Its been compared to the Marantz 9500, Pioneer 59avi, Denon 5900 and 3910 and came out on top in every category in both reveiws.

I have personally compared it to the 5900 and 3910 and it is superior whith film based dvd as well as audio.

The dv-50 would be a small improvement for audio and a downgrade for video,from what I have heard from an actual owner of both.
EVS,as well as RAM East are looking to have mod packages for the sp 1000.

As far as hi def dvd goes, I doubt you will see any player for at least a year, with 3-4 more years of waiting for enough source material to make buying a player feasable.

Greg

The only pro reveiws so far are in German and French as this is a newer model.
Go to the avs forums dvd section under the Integra dps 10.5 (same player) and you will find somewhat translated versions of both reveiws of the sp 1000 as well as dozens of owner opinions and comparisons to other universals.
There are also the links to the actual reveiws if you can read German and/or French.
The sp 1000 sells for around 5k U.S.in the east and Europe and 2k in the U.S. and Canada.

Skip the first 2-3 pages of the thread as it was speculation before these two players were released.

If you read the entire thread, you will find nothing negative except a firmware upgrade needed for hdmi/dvi hookups.
This is a problem with pretty much all hdmi to dvi players and the patch is on the way.

This is the only universal I have ever seen get a unanimous thumbs up like this, in the 2.5k and under class.

Greg

Jay,
I will attempt to explain the difference.

Using analog 2 channel outs, the 3910 has 192hz upsampling on permanently with no way to turn it off.
The 3910 does not sound bad, its just too detail oriented for long term listening.
I found this same signature on sa-cd as well and preffered the body and musicality of the sp 1000.
The sp 1000/DPS 10.5 has a more texured musical quality going for it with just the right amount of detail.

It is more musical and less mechanical sounding than the 3910.
With no hours on either player, I slightly preffered the dvd-a of the 3910 over the sp 1000, whith the sp 1000 sounding too polite whith this format.
DVD-A is by far my least used format, so for me the sp 1000 was superior whith video from component 480p to 1080i on every single movie tried on my 110 in screen and also the better sa-cd/redbook player.

I don't have much faith in the Denon 3910 build or QC, but I would either go for the 2900 modded for audio and accept that it does have decent video but not the best video or go for the sp 1000/dps 10.5 and have the best possible video available and have it modded.

My first 3910 was doa, my second has the upconversion video button not fuctioning and froze up playing its first dvd-r.
It also needs a firmware upgrade for chroma spread and a couple of other glitches.
I guess these glitches are all covered on one upgrade disc ESS-6609-5.

Having them both, I can tell you that the 3910 would be sent for mods right away if I had piked it and the sp 1000 I would have modded eventually.

Doug at RAM East told me he wants to make these twin players his reference offerings whith a no holds barred mod.

DL's comments on dvd-a playback are most likely more accurate than mine as I have only had Denon dvd-a up to this point which always sounded too bright and too digital to me.

As far as sa-cd, I have had the Denons as well as a RAM modded 963sa and Modwright signature 9000 es.

This could have a lot to do with why I always have preffered sa-cd over dvd-a.

Greg

Avguru... I do not consider Arcam to be Hi end but rather mid fi, and its no universal either in case you missed that part in thr title of the thread.
My local Arcam dealer told me that there quality is not were it once was either...at least not on the players being shipped to him lately.
You have very obviously not heard an Onkyo sp 1000 as it has been compared to the dv-50 as being real close, better than a Marantz sa-14,9500 and Sony 777 and it is a fairly new player to have been compared to many players just yet.

One thing I have noticed is absolutely nobody has been disappointed after trying one, which is a lot more than I can say for any other newer model universal at anywhere near its U.S. selling price.

These hi end universals do not have as good of a video section as the Onyo sp 1000 and you failed to mention this.

If you have not tried something first, why even bother offering an opinion?
After all, the sp 1000 sells for 5k or more in Europe and Asia so it must be hi end by your assumptions right?

If we compare all universals to the 75k Goldman, I guess all your mentioned so called hi end players are really mid fi at best right?

711, who is trashing modded gear, certainly not I,but this thread is about stock universal players.

I just happen to have compared a couple of modded players to the Onkyo sp 1000.
After owning three Denons...all whith problems, I would not even consider having one modded by anyone.
So if I were to have any universal modded, it would be the sp 1000 which sounds very musical out of the box, and has superior video to boot.

The Denons just sound too digital and bright out of the box so why mod a player thats inferior in build, audio and video in the first place over one thats got a great company track record for dependibility, and finally built a great universal?

One of the reasons you see Denons being modded so much is that there is a lot of room in the case on a 2900/3910 which makes it easier to mod.

BTW... my Sim Audio gear is modded for two channel use, and so is my H/T set up.

Greg

Lanny,
The sp 1000 has that "no buyers remorse" thing going for it from everyone I have seen that posts there opinion for both audio and video.

I would go as far as to say that at this price, and probably a bit more, its as close to perfect as your going to get.

I have never heard the xa 777es, but did hear the previous 777 model.
There was another audiophool at the asylum who compared the sp 1000 to his Marantz sa-14 and preffered the Onkyo right out of the box.
For a 2k universal to have the best one box video available, and be preffered to two different 2-3k audio only players is saying something.

Greg