I bought this unit from onecall for 69$,and really at twice the price this would be an excellent choice. Picture in the upgrade mode is excellent. Sound is crisp and clear. Functions are easy to set up and use. Analog sound is fantastic. Get one while you can. At this price they are certainly a steal!

Sound quality for CD playback using RCA outputs is very high-end for $300. I use it mainly for CD playback now since purchasing a HD player. Plethora of hook ups to include HDMI, coaxial for bitstream, 2 channel RCA, component video, 12 volt trigger, rs-232C jack.

costs a little more than big box brands such as Sony and Samsung but none of these brands have a 3 year warranty and loads of hook ups for custom install applications. Sometimes exhibits HDMI sync issues but I believe it is due to my older plasma TV which uses HDMI 1.1 version. The analogue component video connection will not output 720p or 1080i, however, I believe only certain HD DVD and Blu Ray players will do this.

I had a five year old Panasonic DVD player that died (cost $250 in 2001), then went the cheap route with a $79 Toshiba DVD player. When the Toshiba died less than 4 months later, I realized I had to pay more to get a better product. I auditioned Denon and Marantz and decided on Marantz with its better build quality (aluminum face plate versus plastic on Denon), coxial connection with Marantz, and Marantz has a 3 year warranty. This is a great product. The 24 bit/192khz DAC is not Burr-Brown or wolfson, but it is Japanese made and sounds great nonetheless. Video upconversion is good but not great when compared to pioneer elite and $500+ Denon lines, but it is on par with blu ray upconversion of DVD formats. I did not want to pay anymore than $300 given price of the new HD formats will come down.

Customer Service

Have not used yet because unit still works.

Similar Products Used:

Denon, Panasonic, Toshiba