Wonderful CD playback for the price. SACD and DVD in the same package.

Remote control does't work from too far off-axis. Have to use TV monitor to set advanced features/settings. No DVD-A.

This unit got a lukewarm review in the Absolute Sound, but the writer was comparing it to players 5-6 times its list price, which is $500 or $600. (It got a flat out rave in new The Audiophile Voice, which arrived after I bought mine.) I needed a new DVD player, did a little Googling and figured, for $300, why not take a shot and add SACD functionality to my rig (Adcom electronics, Magnepan MG12 QRs)? So far, I am very pleased. The SACD discs (of which there about 20 available that I'll ever want to listen to) sound very natural and make me understand what the high-end boys mean when they talk about a CD player having 'rhythm'. Very nice. I'm not a videophile, but the DVD seems to be quite fine. What makes this player special is the upsampling on Red Book discs. My regular CDs sound significantly better on this player compared to my HK>Adcom DAC HDCD combo. Again, the word natural comes to mind, along with the elusive 'air' that the big boys prize so much. For $300, and given my specific needs (i.e. DVD), I can't imagine a more cost effective upgrade for a modest system. If this setup was audio only, I might have held out for one of the affordable SACD/DVD-A players that is hitting the market. That would double the number of hi-res titles I'd keep in my library.

Similar Products Used:

Don't remember the model numbers, this replaced a three year old Toshiba DVD/CD player and lives in the room next to an old HK CD player going through an Adcom GDA-700 DAC.

The player died after one week of infrequent use. Very disappointing.