I will probably piss myself laughing when I walk in the high end store and see that sitting there with a $2000 price tag. I'll stick with my PS3 thank you Denon.

Yes, the XA2 is smaller and lighter than the A1. The A1 is a tank. The XA2 is more like a high-end DVD player.

Ah, finally. I've been waiting for Denon to....

never mind.

I'm an Onkyo guy with HD-DVD. And now I'm even happier about it than I was before reading this thread. What an ugly system, even if it does have some neat features.

The thing with Denon is it has never been about their design. Their hardware has always looked mundane and had a generic interface, but you paid the money for the quality inside. I don't think this leap to be the new Apple is going to work out well for them.

So what's this about Onkyo and HDDVD? Is this just their what, 2 year old announcements about that camp? Or is there something recent? There isn't anything at their official site or official marketing site.

Onkyo is releasing a re-badged XA2 with "tweaks". Most people consider it some form of obligation filling item vs real commitment, since they wont even be making it themselves, and they talk about dual format and blu-ray as often as they do hd-dvd. Probably signed a contract and are being forced to release something with their name not to get sued.

i'd buy it. better than all the generic looking black boxes that everyone else makes... 'course, i can't afford denon anyway

Who are these "most people"? Do you have any idea how many consumer electronics are OEMed by different manufacturers than release them? That Onkyo wants to enhance a Toshiba design merely means that Toshiba has put the most ground-level work into developing the format and it only makes sense for Onkyo to build off that rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

Onkyo has done this in the past with DVD players from Toshiba haven't they? They will take their player, make enhancements and sell it as an Onkyo.

Yes, indeed they have.

I think this is actually a fanboy (or Sony employee) mockup.

Denon doesn't usually mispell the word "receiver."

If you clicked on the link in the first post, you would see that this is part of one designer's portfolio.

You would also notice that most of his work is footwear and not so much electronics.

I agree with Josh. Please back up this claim, since this is the first time I have heard of it.

If you can't it's just more FUD from you.

We already know it's QuePaso spinning facts. And it's getting tiresome.

http://whathifi.co.uk/home-cinema/ar...-at-onkyo.aspx

You guys are silly.

No, we already knew that the Onkyo was a rebadge of the XA2. That was never in dispute.

What we DO have a problem with is this:

Where in that blurb you quoted do you see a comment about "contractual obligations" or lack of real commitment? Clearly they're interested in both formats. What you are doing is spinning the facts to downplay the positives for HD DVD. What a shock. You do this all the time, and it's getting really boring. You do the same thing in video game talk by talking down about Microsoft and Nintendo while harping on whatever you can for Sony.

Would it be so hard for you to just discuss these formats without the endless HD bashing? And that goes for your comments about how people "lie" to support HD on this forum. It's just uncalled for, especially when you're the one who's twisting facts.

If I buy this, people would be saying "Cool alarm clock!" and people won't believe me it is a DVD player

Man, I just don't get all the self-congratulatory, juvenile product design bashing going on. I think it looks kind of cool. And if someone were ignorant enough in my house to call my gear "an alarm clock", I would educate them as to what it really is, and they would then be invited to either admit their stupidity or leave.

Yeah, I don't get all the hate either, RoboDad. Clearly it's not made for those who already have a sound system and are looking to simply add a Blu-Ray player. This is made for those that want to purchase all their components in one shot and want them all to match.

I've only been working in a retail store for a year and I can tell you all that there are many customers who definitely want something like this. It may not be your cup of tea (or mine, as I prefer to mix and match my components) but it's hardly the eyesore everyone here seems to think it is.

Perhaps I can explain all the hate in 2 words for you:

It's Ugly!!

Was that clear enough? Also, it's the player/receiver portions that people have been ridiculing, not so much the speakers. They aren't bad, although I doubt they are worth whatever Denon would charge for them. Looks like a reach to B&O's customer base.

Now, if you like the look, good for you. Clearly many don't. Personally, I happen to like Denon's current look, very understated. I also don't like silver components that are coming back into fashion.

If this is even a real product.

Thanks for the Onkyo info boys. Onkyo does indeed get most of their DVD players from Toshiba and add better audio DACs to them (usually changing nothing of the video). Sometimes a better chassis. I would expect nothing less for the future.

In the past this has kept me away from them as Toshiba's video has historically been subpar at best. But the HDDVD players changed all that with much better upconverting than expected. (and good HDDVD playback, of course) Definitely a point of interest if such an Onkyo product surfaces.

I think it looks nicer than my PS3.

Ummm... No. That explains not liking it. It doesn't even come close to explaining the need to act like 10-year-olds in the way that dislike is expressed.