DVD player that will play both DVD-A and SACD?
 

Is there such a thing?

If so, could anybody recommend one in the $300 dollar range. Also needs to be Progressive Scan.

My Denon 2900 does although it is no where near your price range. I believe Denon may have just come out with several other models, might be worth a search.

The only universal player in your price range is the $180 Pioneer 563A. After that, there is the Denon 2200 for $600 and 2900 for $1000, the Yamaha 2300 for $1000, the Onkyo 800 for $1000, etc. Notice a trend? :) I'd say give the Pioneer a whirl and, if not happy, double your budget! Hope this helps!

Actually, players that paly both SACD and DVD-A on top of playing DVD, CD, VCD, SVCD, MP3, Windows Media, DVD R and DVD RW, are called "hybrid" players and they're becoming a whole new class of player on their own. Hybrid machines are manufactured by Denon, Marantz, Arcam, Pioneer, Omkyo, TEAC and more.

I just got the Pioneer 563a. Unless you've got a really high end system, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better machine without spending alot more money. SACDs and DVD-Audio sounds fantastic and movies look great.
For reference, I have an Onkyo 494 receiver, Polk RT35i speakers, Polk CS245i center, Audiosource 2 way surrounds, and a 8" Yahama woofer.

great! i think that I'll give that Pioneer a shot. we just purchased a Pioneer HDTV as well.

we have boston acoustics home theater, sony receiver.

I bought the Pioneer 563A about a month ago and I am impressed with it so far. It is a great player for the money. I ordered mine online from CRUTCHFIELD for $180. They have free shipping on orders over $199 so if you add a cable or some batteries or something you can get the free shipping.

great, i went and looked at it at Best Buy. they also have it for 180 this week.

i only wish it was black, so that it matched the balance of my components.

i'm a little hesitant, because i want a player that can do all of those things, but if i'm sacrificing picture or reliability to get it cheaper i'd rather not.

but so far, a couple of you are pleased with it so that's a good thing!

I love anything Pioneer, it's just too bad it's hard to find anymore in most stores. here in canada, the brand is now sorta being marketed as low end and it wasn't so 10 years ago. Like Yamaha it's just really great value and you alwasy get plus features you never knew it would do.

ya db27, that stupied silver color, sucks, because you want it all dark so you can't see anythign but the screen of your tv when the lights are out. I wish companys would understand that and make them like Ford Model T's "you can have it in any color as long as it's black!"

Any word on when players will start letting us use coax/optical digital connections for SACDs & DVD-As? (or have they already? I'm admittedly not current on this)

none will allow this, becuase of copyrighting issues.

i have the pioneer elite dv-45a, and its great, but no bass management, so im getting the denon dvd-2200. its SUPER nice for the price. probably the best value dvd player out there. uses the well known silicon image video chip.

well, i went ahead and bought the Pioneer 563a.

won't set it up till the new set arrives, but i'll bump this with my opinions at that point.

i actually just traded my 45a in for the denon dvd-2200 because of the bass management feature. its very nice. i suggest it to anyone looking at the dvd-2900, its nearly identical.

The 45A has bass managment? Was it limiting in some way? I have never played with one.

the 45A lacked bass management. meaning that it sent full range to all speakers. i am upgrading to magnepans all around, so i wanted to be able to cross over all the speakers at 80hz, and send the rest to my sub. plus, the image quality of the denon is a bit nicer (supposedly, so far i think the 45A is every bit as good with interlaced picture quality). it does have better features as far as analog goes. it needs break-in, but so far its a worthy purchase, considering it was only $90.