Sound Quality

Picture Quality

The DVD 5000 has the best audio qullity of any of the stand alone DVD players that I've seen. However it is noat as good as High end CD players or transport DAC combos.

What's really bad fo Denon is this units ability to play video. Line have pronounce jagged edges that were bare noticible on the Pioneer and nonexistent with the Sony.
The picture had excellent detail(not as good as Pioneer) and accurate color, but the level of digital artifacts is impossible to ignore. I find it difficult to believe that a player with such a flawed picture is supposedly THX Ultra certified.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DVS9( Japanese version of DVL 09) Sony dvd 7000

Seems bulletproof, awsome DACs

Cost, relays, no decoder, weak transport

Well, I'm almost not quite sure were to start with this player. How about: I'm glad I had an oportunity to use one of these before I bought one. I've seen a LOT of DVD players -- it's part of my job. For $2500, this DVD player DOES have the best DACs and analog output stage of any player out there. At least until you play a disc with any errors or scrathes on it. All those people downplaying that little relay "click" on this player? Try playing a disc with a scratch on it and listen to that glorious sound as the relays cut in and out like crazy and your soundstage sounds like it was cut apart with a buzzsaw. This is the worst solution to disk errors I've ever seen. The relays are tied to a digital active sense line as well as the error line of the digital input receiver. So whenever there is an error on the disk it kills the relays. Most manufacturers mute this (errors) or mask it somehow. This is the only thing I've ever seen that uses relays (read: SLOW) to actually mute the output during disk errors. Simply dreadful.
As for the video, well, it looks pretty good. For now. You see, Denon bases a lot of there stuff on Panasonic equipment. Have you ever seen the Panasonic A310? Well, that's the same transport that's in the Denon. I've seen quite a few of these Panasonics. The fact is they all suck over time. I haven't seen one that doesn't crap out after a few years, the laser dies, or it starts glitching on perfectly clean DVDs (except their cheapest model -- the A120, which has a totally different transport than any other Panasonic product). I think Denon has some new video DACs in this puppy, so it definitely looks better than the A310, but not for long I asure you.
This unit has great video *for now*, excellent audio *unless you've got a scratched disk*, and decent build characteristics (yeah, that tray's a little weak too, but what do you expect for a Panasonic tansport). But for $2500 this is simply a golden brick. I'd buy a Sony 7700 which has dual lasers -- one for CDs and one for DVDs -- as well as an onboard decoder (absolutely ludicrous that something of this cost wouldn't have one) and use an outboard DAC for my audio.
I give it a 2 based on cost and potential (and real) problems.

Similar Products Used:

Sony 7700

It always makes me laugh when supposed audiophiles and enthusiast's alike recommend products from makers such as Sony. Yamaha. I mean come on, if you go there you might as well say Sanyo or Samsung or something. Forget inferior brands like Yamaha. With their very ordinary amplifiers and receivers for instance. Head room created by equalising the bass at specific frequency's, sounding artificially warm bassy and impressive and in the process completely drowning out delicate nuances in the music. Their amplifiers suck you into a false sound and when you get equipment from makers like Denon, you notice just how neutral the signal is SUPPOSED to be. No built in bass you can't defeat.
Sony aren't much better. And all they seem to care about is catch phrases like, Hybrid Pulse, Random Music Sensor and bullsh*t like that. Where's the quality? Forget functional pricing like Hybrid Pulse to squeeze another 10 bucks out of you and give us something with good build quality and less flashing lights to distract us. If I want flashing lights for my Christmas tree, I'll either buy a product from Sony or one of those neat light chains to wrap around it you know what I'm sayin'.

One last thing before I go. You do realize that these high end products need running in time don't you. They never function at 100% straight out of the box you know. Just a thought guys.

Wow, all the conflicts between the sony s7000 and denon d5000. I sold my sony because of the dts. I got the d5000 at smoking deal. I love the denon, I didn't have the chance to compare both machines, but denon is by far (my opinion) the better sounding cd player than the sony, the video part from my memory is not much of different. Both machines are great. Only thing I don't like the denon is that the display don't shut off.

excelent CD player, DVD a bonus

too heavy 16.5 KG??

I uesed as a CD player rather than a DVD player.
(Honestly speaking, nowadays 300-500 bucks can buy a excellent DVD player with excellent picture.
However, as a autophile, it is quiet hard to find a
CD player as SACD launched.)

DV 5000 is very popular in HK in 2000 and 2001. Most
Local HiFi magazines rated it as the best CD player below
20 K HKD. Before I bought it home , I really dont belive
that such a DVD palyer can sound much better than a
CD player (cost 10 K HKD).


I am sure that DV 5000 sound better than Arcam 92 , FMJ23
in playing CD.

good sound stage, dynamics
both high and bass are detial and extended.
24 bit with upsamping
HDCD decoding
accept extenal digital source to use as stand alone DAC

Similar Products Used:

S10 III,

Today I went back to United Audio and made a trade up with my DVD. After bying the Sony S7000 yesterday, I was very happy but had it in the back of my mind was that there is something superior to even the Sony out there. It is without the new industry standard and many of those I spoke with do not even think the new Sony S7700 will come close.
I bought the new Denon D-5000 for $2,500. It has the BEST picture you will EVER see from DVD. The sound surpasses that of Denons best stand alone CD player and outperforms any DVD in the CD department. It came out last month and it is only the 6th one sold in Illinois, and 17th in the country. ( the sales guys brother works pretty high up in Sony and tells him this stuff at least 2X a week). Therefore, I am guessing there is not much in the reviews you can read yet.

Now, along with the Denon AVR 5600 and my B&W Matrix speaker setup, the home theater is once again revamped with an A/V upgrade.

Next in line will be the Laserdisc Player. I have the 606 but I am eyeing the new Pioneer Combi player. The price is steep at $1900, but it will probably be worth it.

If anyone has tried this, let me know!

Recently bought the Denon DVD 5000 and am very impressed by it. Both the picture and sound are superb and it is very flexible. Can handle DVD's and CD's encoded with Dolby Digital, AC-3, HDCD, & DTS.
It is a great unit.

Man, you are pathetic.(Buzz) All you can do curse at people in order make your point. If you don't know what is an informed opinion just go back to first grade again and pay attention to what the teacher had to say, maybe you'll learn something. Hey I got a question for you. What is so special about Denon in general, do thay use an unknown material to build their ICs,servos,op-amps or power supplies, oh no I know it's technology from the 24th century right!
And before you say something to embarass yourself Keep in mind you are talking to an Electrical Engineer. So don't say this or that about ICs or Buffers.
You obviously like anything Denon and I don't blame you, I own two pieces, the DCD-S10 and the AVR-5600. So get off your high horse you Martir or should I say Denon-Crusader. The Spanish Inquisition its been over for 500 years, ohh! thats right I forgot you also have a time machine!
Sorry Make you look this Bad but asked for it.
P.S.- Hey its not your fault you're not very smart.

I had a chance to check out the 5000. But unfortunately the video selection I had to choose from was limited and quite frankly, inadequate. I definitely feel the build quality is first rate. Performance seems to be good, but since I didn't have very good material, I could'nt put the denon through it's paces. I'm sure it's a top performer,but as far as leaving the other players in the dust, who knows. I myself am checking out toshiba's sd2108. It has good performance and doesn't come with a 2,500 price tag.

I did not spend a great amount of time evaluating this player, as I already have a perfectly capable one (Panasonic A-310), but I feel compelled to write a review of the Denon because I found one unexcusable thing wrong with it. When playing CDs or DVDs, you can hear it spinning the discs ACROSS THE ROOM! Even when a movie or music is playing, it is still noticable from 8 feet away! It is louder than a cheap 32 speed CD-ROM drive! This is the noisest (mechanical noise) CD player I have ever heard! A $100 Sony makes much less noise!
Other than that one LARGE flaw, the Denon is an excellent performer. Build quality is excellent, slightly better than the flagship Sony and Pioneer players, and just a notch below the Theta transport and Meridian players. Sound quality on CDs is also good, slightly inferior to Denon's own $1000 CD only player, which chassis this player is based on. The Denon is probably on par with, if not slightly more detailed, than the $700 Rega player, except that the Denon has a different sound. DVD picture/sound is also excellent. Although the monitor I was watching it on wasn't high end (36" Sony XBR Wega) it still looked great. Probably slightly better than the Sony and Pioneer units, but not quite as good as the Merdian and Faroudja units.

However, I cannot recommend the Denon. First off, the loud disc spinning is unforgivable. That alone would knock it off my long list. (I'm not saying that all the Denon 5000 players did this, but the one I saw/heard did. It was The Good Guys, so you never know. Stereo Review did measure it to be extremely quiet.) I'll give Denon the benefit of the doubt and say that the sample I saw/heard was defective.

But the loud spinning aside, I think the Denon is a poor value. While the Denon probably a bit better than the Sony or Pioneer models, it is $1000 and $1500 more expensive! I could think of much better ways to spend that money for HT. The Denon is certainly not worth the extra money over the Sony or Pioneer units, and if you wanted a truly high-end player, I'd look at the Theta, Meridian, or Faroudja.

With the noise, I'd give the player 1 speaker, as it is unexcusable in a $250 player, let alone a $2500 one!

Assuming the player was absent of noise, I'd give it 5 speakers in overall quality and performance.

But when you tack on the $2500 price tag, it becomes a bad buy, so my rating would drop to 3 speakers.

Therefore on the whole, I give the Denon 2 speakers. If I do see/hear one without the spinning noise, I will bump my rating up to 3 speakers.