This is a somewhat vague question that stems from my unfamiliarity with differences between mid-range quality and high quality.

For reference, my current equipment is as follows:

- Mits 65819
- Onkyo SKS-HT500 5.1 Speakers
- Onkyo TX-SR600 6.1 Receiver

I realize this is nowhere near top of the line, but due to the constraints of the current location, I have no real interest in upgrading this specific equipment just yet.

In the relatively near feature I need to buy functionality for the following 4 things:

- High quality Progressive Scan DVD player (I have the Pioneer DV-444, and it just doesn't cut it)
- Region Free DVD Player
- SACD
- DVD-A

I know I can buy players that do all of these things, but I have reservations when buying products that do multiple functions, fearing that they'll do many things OK but nothing great. Is that assumption incorrect? I clearly don't want to buy 4 more players, but I don't know enough to know which combinations I should investigate. Can I get a Region Free player that will rival any basic Progressive Scan player? Is it OK to get a combo SACD/DVD-A player, or should I purchase them separately? Can I get one badass player that does all these things wonderfully?

I apologize for my ignorance in this area, but I'd appreciate any help others could provide.

Thanks,
das

I don't think there are any region-free SACD players, but the Pioneer-45a (Region 1) does play both DVD-a and SACD. You'd then have to get an additional Region Free player (maybe the Cyber Home-500)

Buy 1 player and make stickers that have all of the logos.

-pedagogue

I would wait on getting a combo SACD/DVD-A/DVD player (the prices will drop as more and more models offer such functionality).

I would go with one of the region-free DVD players that always seem to be advertised on DVDTalk (the Malata 520, or the older Malata N996 off Ebay).

I modded a JVC XV-65GD DVD player for multi-region play (does the PAL-2-NTSC conversion as well, just like the Malatas).

Also, if you had the budget, and didn't mind 3 DVD players total, you could go with the Sony NS999 (for SACD), and Panasonic RP-82 (or its successor for DVD-A).

If budget is a concern, look at the Philips DVD963SA (around $400-$500), which does region-free, PAL-2-NTSC, and SACD. It doesn't do DVD-A, though. But the catch is that it doesn't seem to be released yet. Here's a info link to it.

While Pioneer 45A is a nice combo DVD player, it doesn't do bass management well. If that's not a problem for you, then it's a viable solution.

Thanks for the input, Patman.

From the responses I can assume that there's no need for me to get a separate player just for HQ Progressive Scan? If I get one of the Region Free bad boys, it will be good enough in that regard? If that's the case, I may get a Region Free and then an SACD. DVD-A doesn't seem as nice to me, and I have only found one or two titles that interest me right now anyway.

I guess my main question would be whether a Region Free PS player will be as good in its audio/video presentation as a Region 1 PS player of somewhat similar cost?

das

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...ut-1-2003.html

Holy God that's a lot of words. I'm off to do some serious reading ... thanks for the link.

das

If you wanted a cheapo region free, PAL-2-NTSC DVD player, find an Apex 3201 on Ebay. I did this for a local friend last week. It's not the greatest DVD player in the world, but if you only have a few non-R1 DVDs, it'll do in limited duty. I had one, but I gave it to my dad, and he's been abusing the hell out of it, playing DVDs/VCDs 6-8 hours a day with it.

• Quoth Patman •<HR SIZE=1>If budget is a concern, look at the Philips DVD963SA (around $400-$500), which does region-free, PAL-2-NTSC, and SACD. It doesn't do DVD-A, though. But the catch is that it doesn't seem to be released yet. Here's a info link to it. <HR SIZE=1>

Just wanted to drop in and let you know that after much research, I ended up purchasing this guy. In the end, I decided I'd go with SACD over DVD-A, and this thing does everything else I needed. The DVD Video playback is incredible in comparison to what I got from my DV-444, and the SACD works really well. I don't have any good titles to compare the SACD to redbook just yet, and I can't really hear a difference when upsampling to 192, but it's still nice to have all the functionality in one box, and I know my speakers suck which is part of the problem.

Anyway, thanks for planting that suggestion in my mind. It was one of about 30 different solutions I gave consideration to, but it ultimately won for my needs, and I'm very happy with it so far.

das

Where's my finder's fee!

Hey das,

Where did you get the DVD963SA? I've been thinking about buying this player myself, based on its versatility and picture quality.

Did you do the region hacking yourself, or was it done by the reseller?

There's a thread on this player on avsforum, but it's about 53 pages long, and making my head hurt...

Yeah, I read that whole thread ... took days. I haven't done the region hack yet, since I'll have to build an IR transmitter to do it (don't have a Pronto) and haven't had the time. J&R couldn't guarantee me they would send me one (even though they claimed to have it "in stock"), so I got it from OneCall. Took 3 days to deliver and was packed perfectly.

das

Thanks, das. I was looking at Onecall as well for my order. They've always treated me well, and you can usually talk them down a little on their listed prices.

I'm still undecided on buying this player, though. I'm starting to sway towards building a HTPC...

Decisions, decisions.

Unfortunately, I've had almost no time to play with it since I purchased it, but so far I'm really happy. Hopefully I can give it a good workout this weekend. I'm looking forward to tweaking the video settings and recalibrating everything, but to be honest, it looked incredible straight out of the box. If I could get any improvement on what it already produces, that would be amazing.

Making decisions sucks, but I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you decide.

das

I hate Onecall's return policy, so I avoid them like the plague.