Build, picture quality, Remote and Dvd Audio sound

none

I felt the need to upgrade my Sony Dvd player after having many software related problems. The player was fine for the time being, but I needed something more state of the art. I have owned the DVD-A7 for about 3 months and did not want to submit a review until I owned more dvd audio discs and watched more than 20 movies. The player has had no problems with locking up or layer changing. The picture settings are ok, I personally like using the "U", or user setting to tweak the picture to my own preferences. I really like the remote. The joystick is an excellent way to navigate through menus. Much better than my older Sony.

The sound quality is excellent with DVD audio and Cd's. I would not recommend using this player for a cd player unless you use a less superior cd player. I currently use an Revox B22 Cd player and the DA converters cannot be beat. The DVD audio is breathtaking. I have listened to Sting's Brand New Day and really found the sound a great upgrade. I also like listening to DVD audio discs in 2 channel mode.

Connectivity is excellent. I have the digital coax going through my Marnantz SR8000 for movies. To listen to dvd audio I use the 5.1 connection. I found the DA converters onboard the DVD-a7 to be above average. I would suggest using the onboard capability on a upscale receiver though. If using a inexpensive receiver you may want to use the players converters.

Overall this is a fine DVD player and from the prices I have seen payed, it might be the best DVD Audio player in this price range.

current system
Marantz SR8000
Revox B22 Cd player
B&W 603 front
B&W 602 rear
B&W cc6 center
Velodyne Sub, 10inch forgot model #

Similar Products Used:

Sony 550

Excellent video, great build quality and nice remote

would like to see more audio discs

I first purchased the Sony dvp570, I bought it at a local dealer and at first was very excited about my purchase. My friend brought over his Sony dvp560 so we could compare the picture quality between the two. After connecting both players via s-video cable, we were convinced that they have the same video quality. I payed $450 for my player and he payed $360. I returned my player and was planning on purchasing the dvp560, when the dealer showed me the Panasonic DVD-A7. I loved the dvd audio feature, not to mention the quality build of the machine. The price was high $799!, I looked on the internet and found it for 379., great deal less than the original player I had purchased.

Again I did a side by side comparison between my friends dvp560, and the picture quality looked a little better on the sony. But after some tweaking of user settings on the panasonic I found it just as good.

The audio portion is where this player shines. I listened to The Police "Greatest Hits", and it was amazing.

Too say the least, I love this player!!!

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-570

Excellent sound from DVD-Audio and CD; Video is good when it works.

Unit started giving me trouble watching DVDs, Locking up

This unit is a very good player when it works. I had my A7 since February and it has started locking up in the middle of movies. All the controls freeze up and you can't even get the disc out without turning off the power and turning it back on again. Also, had trouble reading DVD movies at the beginning were the player first checks the disc. It likes to get stuck in a continuious loop and won't play the movie. Again all the controls become non operational. The only way to get the DVD movie out is the unplug the unit and plug it back in again. I am very disappointed in this Panasonic DVD-A7D being it suppose to be such a high quality unit. I have sent the A7 to Panasonic factory service for repair.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV-525

Build and looks
Remote control
All video & audio outputs active full time
Both optical and coax digital outputs

Some may find bass management/delay settings limited
Noisy center and surround with DVD-A with sampler disc (probably software issue, not player)

I have owned an A110 for three years. It has been repaired twice due to a faulty optical pickup unit. I had sworn off Panasonic until I saw this unit deeply discounted to $250.00. Another $45 bought me a two year replacement warranty on a comparable product, so I was able to hedge my bet.

OVERALL
The unit is attractive and appears solidly constructed. Loading time is reasonably fast, faster than my A110. The mechanism cannot be heard during play.

VIDEO
Compared to my A110, which lacks component video, the A7 has a better picture with component output connected to my 32" Toshiba cinema series TV. I don't get carried away with comparisons of video quality between DVD players since the TV used is such a great factor, and picture quality varies so little. However, I can say the A7 is significantly improved over the A110 if only because of the connection used.

The A7 allows the user to tweak contrast, brightness, color, and sharpness independent of the TV settings. This is useful if you also use S-video sources (VCR, DBS) and have the A7 connected to the component input. The TV can be adjusted optimally to display S-video, and the A7 can be adjusted to optimize the picture via component. Thereafter, the settings need not be adjusted on the TV when the input is alternated.

Users with kids/signifcant others may find it useful that the A7's video outputs are all active all the time. There is no need to select an active output via a menu or switch. This may help with the "wife/kid factor": just hook up both S-video and component inputs and they will not have to switch inputs on the TV if they are satisfied to watch S-video (assuming that is how your other sources are hooked up). I suppose it is also useful for feeding multiple monitors in different rooms.

AUDIO
I connected the A7 to my Denon AVR 3300 via coax digital and the 5.1 analog input, the latter being necessary for DVD-Audio.

As with the video outputs, all of the A7's audio outputs are all active all the time without the need to select the active output via menu or switch. Apparently this is not true of the DVD-A players from Onkyo and Toshiba. In my view, this is a huge ergonomic advantage because the user need only switch settings on their receiver, not both their receiver and DVD player, to alternate between analog (DVD-A) and digital (DD and DTS) outputs.

The A7 has both DD and DTS decoders onboard. I did not listen to them long enough to evaluate quality, only to confirm that they worked since I will rely on the decoders in my receiver. I did note that DD 2.0 is decoded by the A7 and output as 2-channel stereo through the left and right channels. In comparison, my Denon reciever decodes DD 2.0 as a mono signal and outputs through the center channel, which is probably what is intended.

The A7's 5.1 analog output has bass management, which is necessary since these controls are usually bypassed on a receiver's 5.1 analog input. The A7 allows the user to delete center, surrounds, and subwoofer. All speakers can be set to either large or small. Bass cutoff for the small setting is 100 Hz according to the manual. Delay can be applied to center and surrounds, but the A7 assumes that the center and surrounds are equidistant or closer to the listener than the mains. No provision is made for adjusting delay of speakers located further from the listener than the mains. According to the manual, delay settings are applied only to decoded DD output, not DTS or DVD-A, which seems to negate the usefulness of the delay setting for most users.

I have only listened to the DVD-A sampler disc that came packaged with the A7. Those tracks with the highest resolution are 2 channel only. They sound fantastic. However, the lower resolution tracks (still higher than CD) had very noticeable hissing noise on the center and surround channels. DD and DTS 5 channel output is dead quiet via 5.1 analog on all channels, so neither the inputs on my Denon receiver nor the outputs on the A7 are noisy per se. This also means the cables are not the cause of the noise. I am unwilling to assume that the A7 is at fault, so I am assuming a problem with the free sampler disc until I can test out another DVD-A disc. If anybody else has noted a similar problem with the sampler disc, please post here.

SUMMARY
At the price I paid, this player is a bargain, even without DVD-A. Compared to similarly priced units, it looks better, is built better, has a better remote, and has both coax and optical digital outputs. The trend with lower and mid-priced models these days is to omit one or the other (at least with Toshiba and Panasonic models). Assuming the A7 proves more reliable than my A110, I will be very pleased.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A110

UPDATE-see my review below

UPDATE

I went back and found the review on the Panasonic dvd A7 in the sound & vision Jan.2000. It gave it a great review and it mention that the player does not play cdr's but they tried cdrw's and they played.SO I tried and to my surprise they worked.The audio cdrw's will work and this is GREAT NEWS because I recorded alot of cds.I also copied songs from the dts 5.1 cds and made a cd up and it also played.
I tried one computer cdrw and it did not work. I will try it again with another brand.But for now I am happy that I can record with AUDIO CDRW's.I am changing my overall Rating to 5.

P.S.When I record the dts 5.1 it played back in dts 5.1 There is sometimes problems with tracking.

Similar Products Used:

UPDATE

Excellent build, good remote and great picture

Nothing

Excellent picture and sound quality. I love the look and feel of this player. I have 10 dvd audio discs and they sound amamzing. I had a hard time finding the DVD-A titles in my local area, but I found many titles at buy.com.

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Yamaha RXV800
B&W 604, 602, and ccs1

Excellent build, good remote and great picture

Nothing

Excellent picture and sound quality. I love the look and feel of this player. I have 10 dvd audio discs and they sound amamzing. I had a hard time finding the DVD-A titles in my local area, but I found many titles at buy.com.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha RXV800
B&W 604, 602, and ccs1

The audio sound on cd's & audio dvd's is Great & the separation is out of this world

The 5.1 is not digital on the dvd audio disc & it does not play cdr's & crw's

I think the panasonic-A7 is a great machine the audio is out of this world & the picture is pretty good too.I kept my Konka-1800u it is a great dvd player it plays everyting cdr's & cdw's but the panasonic sounds better.The panasonic also plays dts audio dvd but the dvd audio disc sounds much better.My only disppointment was the the audio dvd disc could only be played in 5.1 analog not digital.I think the price I paid for this dvd player was a good price and I am very satisfied with this dvd player. I would recommed this player to anyone who likes great sound it made me listen to many of my cd's again.

Similar Products Used:

Konka 1800u,Toshiba sd-2109

DVD-Audio, remote, price, availability

Quality of sound, no progressive scan

I've owned a Sony DVP-300 for over 2 years. I bought a JVC723GD ($600) and Panasonic A7 with the idea that one would go back to the store. The A7 operated just fine. CD quality was simlar to the JVC and my Sony. DVD-audio was a noticable improvement. I liked that the A7 would send a digital signal to the digital outs even though the signal is downconverted to 16/48. The JVC would not send anything to the digital outs when playing DVD-audio. I tried to find a Technic A10 to compare, but could not find one locally.

I decided to return both, and mail order a Technics A-10, but first I wanted to listen to the new Sony S9000ES. It cost me $1300. Wow! CD play on the 9000 was better than DVD-Audio play on the A7. SACD play was on another level.

I kept the Sony S9000ES and am very pleased. Still I wish I could have listened to the A10.

My recommendation. Do not buy the Panasonic A7. The Technics costs about $100 more, has remaster upsampling, better electronics, and better power supplies. It's worth the extra $100.

If you want better sound, buy the Sony S9000ES. I wish I could have compared the CD play on the Technics against the 9000, but I can tell you, after listening to CDs on the 9000ES, you'll never be happy with the A7 or similar products. SACD is an added bonus. I had two of the CD's that are featured on the SACD sampler disc. The Sampler disc versions were vastly superior to my CDs. In blind testing, I can pick them out 100% of the time.

I find it difficult to rate the A7. For $500, it is a good value in comparision with what's offered and it has DVD-audio, but in comparision to the A10, it's not a good value. I rated the overall as a 2 because I rate its CD and DVD-Video DD audio quality as similar to $250 DVD players. CD and DVD-Video DD audio quality are important to me.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP 300, JVC723GD, Sony S9000ES

Excellent picture w/component outputs
Very good sound
Good remote
Good build quality
Purdy blue lights

Can't read CD-Rs and CR-DWs

Great picture with my Zenith Inteq in component outputs... WAYYY better than my old Toshiba SD-1600. Bought this unit cost from a friend at Future Shop, got a wicked deal at 329$ CDN (212$ US). My only gripe with it is that I can't watch all my friends' burned VCDs :) Anybody figure out how to hack this thing yet? Any mod chips out there? Please email me.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-1600, SD-2900