Yamaha S-2500 universal player - DCDi, HDMI, i.Link, video scaling - Page 9

newtr1,
Unfortunately I can't give you any reports on functionality of iLink. My current receiver is not iLink capable. I decided on the Pioneer because:

1.It is a good match for my TV (DLP)
2. DVD-Audio and SACD capable- I plan on hooking up the multi-channel inputs for this feature
3. No macroblocking issues reported (and I have not see any when viewing several movies so far)

Do you guys know how much Tweeter sells the Pioneer for? I'm tired of waiting for this Yamaha.

KramerTC,
The closest Tweeter to me is across the state (and for some reason they do not list it on their website even though the Pioneer website lists them as an authorized internet dealer. Maybe they cannot advertise the price online?). The only online price I could find (authorized dealer) is Electronic Warehouse for $1300. I bought mine for much less than that from an authorized dealer here in WNY.

BWOJO,

I did go to Tweeter this weekend. It's kind of a long drive for me; that's why I asked here first. They sell it for $1299... kind of high, but I have until mid-May to trade in my current DVD player and get full credit for what I paid for it (a Yamaha S1500).
I'm only interested in the 2500 as an audio-only player. The more time I spend with the 1500 listening to CD, DVD-A', and SACD the more I like it. I'm not even sure at this point if the 2500 is an upgrade over the 1500 on the audio side.

I saw on the Pioneer thread that you got the 59avi.. congrats.

Man, I had my hands on a 2500 at Cedia LAST YEAR, what was it? September?

I wonder if anyone from Yamaha follows AVS, or cares.

Anyway, ordered my Pioneer 59avi today.

Sorry Yamaha! Hello Pioneer.

Come to think of it, the elite dvd player will look nice sitting on top of my elite cd player.

Thanks to everyone at AVS for their contributions to me pulling the trigger on the 59avi, esp Mimason. Wish I would have bought Mimason's 59 when I had the chance.

Here is the latest from Yamaha...

from the email: "We are now looking at late March early April release of the s2500 dvd player. If you have any more questions please feel free to contact us at our toll free Customer Support line. 1-800-292-2982 Hours: Monday Thru Friday 8 AM to 4 PM Pacific time."

We shall see. Heck I bet in May we will see new model announcements from Denon and pioneer for the fall release timeframe. They may even have firewire output below $1,000 like this Yamaha player. Yamaha is really missing the boat on delaying this player.

It seems every summer all the electronics manufacturers announce new models for the fall release holiday season.

FWIW, March 2005 is what I have been hearing in January already - from Yamaha Europe. I doubt Yamaha enjoys the delay, perhaps it has something to do with parts availability. It seems no coincedence that three models with more or less the same specs (Philips, Marantz DV7600, Yamaha) that were all announced months ago are still not available...

I talked with a person who seemed to be up-to-date on what's happening. He stated that Yamaha is having problems with the firmware, something to do with not getting a good handshake. That's all I know.

I almost bought a Pioneer 59avi, but I just can't see it, with high-def coming into focus in a year or two.

The Pioneer 59avi cost me less than I have spent on several lesser quality dvd players in the last 2-3 yrs combined.

The warranty is 2 years and I hope that it will last much longer than that.

The way I see it, the 59avi should last me long enough for them to work out the bugs of the new HD dvd format and in the new HD dvd players.

As long as it has taken Yamaha to release the 2500, how much longer is it going to be after that release til we have all of the bugs worked out of it?


I'm going to wait a good long time til I get a HD player and enjoy the Pioneer quality in the meantime. (I tell myself that anyway)

Yeah I'm not real worried about a H/D player either. I have 3 mega-changers and about 700+ DVD's so far, and I have no intention of replacing them with their H/D versions whenever they come out. Not to mention until there is a clear cut leader/winner to whichever H/D format becomes the "standard" it's also kind of a risk that you may end up with a H/D DVD version of Betamax. Which is why I think I'd maybe look into buying a higher end scaler, than I would at the 1st or 2nd year H/D DVD players that will come out. Plus by the 3rd year is probably when the prices will become more reasonable on them as well. Because you just know the first ones out of the gate, are also most likely going to be very pricey, if not the high end type only.

I agree. I will wait until I can get a "universal" high def DVD player for around a grand or so, and *then* think about switching. I bet that's at least 2 years off. (I switch DVD players about every 2 years anyway, so... )And, I have seen rumblings that it might not be so easy to do HD-DVD and Blu-Ray in the same machine.

Well you just know that one of the two Hi-Def DVD formats is going to end up like Betamax did. There is just no need or reason to have two separate and competing formats. It will just be one big major mess, until there is just only one winner/standard left, and rising up from out of the two.

Stopped by my local Tweeter yesterday. They claim to have an April 15th release date for the Yamaha S2500. An unpdate for those who might be waiting for this machine. The street price quoted to me was $699.

I was told the same at my local Tweeter. I hope this date doesn't slip any further and I also hope that the delay means they are working hard to prevent the problems that have plagued other players using the Faroudja stuff. Green push, macroblocking...

I can't bring myself to spend $1000-$1300 for a DVD player.

Any news on this unit?

Its on Yammy website now and the price has gone up to $750. Maybe thats a good sign.

In Europe it's starting to show up in German and Austrian pricewatch sites. This baby better is worth the wait!

That's nothing new. That has been on their website for almost two months now.

I wonder why they decided to increase its MSRP. Its price point was one of the things that made it so atractive.

Yamaha will probably say it is because of the weak dollar versus the Euro. At least that was the excuse that Denon used in increasing the price on the 3910. Then again, Denon ONLY increased the MSRP on one item, the 3910, and not the rest of their line... so, maybe the increases have more to do with public demand for the unit and less so with the dollar.

Yamaha added on their site "Compare" to the tab bar that had "dealers, back panel, FAQs" , on this unit about a month ago but still no manuals. When that appears they will have firmed up the manual and started shipping. The DVD C-950 has not appeared as yet either, on the Yamaha site and it was due for release this month? One can only wonder what problems they are running into.

Also it says the unit does not do 4:4:4

DVD Player Comparison Chart 3
MODEL DVD-S2500 DVD-S2300 DVD-S2300MK2 DVD-S1500 DV-S5770
MSRP $749.95 $999.00 $999.95 $449.95 $449.95
TYPE Single Disc Single Disc Single Disc Single Disc Single Disc

FEATURE DVD-S2500 DVD-S2300 DVD-S2300MK2 DVD-S1500 DV-S5770
DVD-AUDIO Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SACD Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
DVD-VIDEO/VCD/CD Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
DOLBY DIGITAL AND DTS DECODER Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
MP3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
JPEG Yes No No Yes Yes
CD-R/CD-RW Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
DCDi BY FAROUDJA "PROGRESSIVE SCAN" Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
HDCP and HDMI COMPATIBILITY Yes No No No No
3:2 PULL - DOWN Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4:4:4: PROGRESSIVE COMPONENT VIDEO N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes
CIRCUIT
3D MOTION CROSS COLOR SUPPRESSION Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
VIDEO DAC 12BIT/216MHz 12BIT/54MHz 12BIT/54MHz 12BIT/108MHz 12BIT/108MHz
AUDIO DAC 192kHz/24BIT 192kHz/24BIT 192kHz/24BIT 192kHz/24BIT 192kHz/24BIT
RS-232C PORT Yes No Yes No No
GUI Remote for OSD Yes No No Yes Yes

VIDEO OUTPUTS DVD-S2500 DVD-S2300 DVD-S2300MK2 DVD-S1500 DV-S5770
COMPOSITE 1 2 2 1 1
S-VIDEO 1 2 2 1 1
COMPONENT VIDEO 1 2 2 1 1
ANTI-VIBRATION CONTSRUCTION N/A Yes Yes No No
DETACHABLE POWER CORD Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

SPECIFICATIONS DVD-S2500 DVD-S2300 DVD-S2300MK2 DVD-S1500 DV-S5770
DIMENSIONS ( W x H x D ) 17-1/8" x 3-15/16" x 12-3/8" 17-1/8" x 4-9/16" x 13-3/4" 17-1/8" x 4-9/16" x 13-3/4" 17-1/8" x 2-3/16" x 12-3/8" 17-1/8" x 2-3/16" x 12-3/8"
WEIGHT 12.3 lbs. 19.2 lbs. 19.8 lbs. 7.1 lbs. 7.1 lbs.

It says 'N/A' -- which is not necessarily the same as 'No'

True and it also says thru component only. So maybe it does thru HDMI. Is this needed thru HDMI?

Well, Price hack makes Refurb 3910 a super deal..

FWIW, i just got word that it won't be available until the end of April. Ugh.

I share your reaction, Mrsandman. I have been waiting so long that it has become a joke. While waiting for the Yamaha, I bought a cheap Sony 775. Let me be witness that this is a fine little unit, with both video and audio. It matches up well with my Pioneer 56Txi and Cd's sound great.

With SACD and DVD-A both going in the tank (I believe even the inestimable John Atkinson supports this forecast), and HD DVD coming in by the end of this year, it may be time to give up on the Yamaha S2500. The new HD units are forecasted to cost around $1000 (MSRP), only $250 more than the Yamaha (MSRP). Even if it takes a while for the format war to sort out, reasonably priced units like the Sony 775 can bridge the gap.

I wonder will new HD units be able to upscale current dvd titles too?

At best, they'll only be similar to current upscaling players. My suspicion is that they may not be as good (I'm guessing that to keep price down, they'll focus more on making HD DVDs look great than on upscaling 480i DVDs). But this is a total guess - I have not read anything about either HD DVD or BlueRay having upscaling capabilities for 480i DVDs).