Denon 2930 vs 3930

The 3930 is the better player for both audio and video. But whether the additional performance warrants the higher price -- only you can decide, depending on the rest of your equipment.

I demo'd the 2930 and 3930 on my display. I wasn't able to actually A/B them, but I had each player just a few weeks apart. After calibration, they were identical to my eyes for film-based DVDs. I know of one guy with a projector system who actually did A/B them and he actually thought the 2930 was a hair sharper at 720p. It is said the Realta in the 3930 handles bad edits and mixed cadences better that the Reon. However, I'm not sure how much better or how often this will affect your viewing. In all honesty, if you're more concerned about video, I'd just go with the 2930.

David, you need to bear in mind that you have a CRT, whereas the OP has a fixed pixel display, which could affect his viewing performance. Also, the audio DACs are different in the 2 players.

True.

My acquaintance, however, tested them on a DLP projector.

At the end of the day, they are both outstanding players (although, if SACD/DVD-A is not needed, the Tosh A2 should also be considered).

Bill,

How do you like the upscaling of the A2 compared to your 3910?

David,
I like my A2 a lot so far. I never played much with the A1, but based on my reading, the A2 is quicker and less buggy (and mine has worked perfectly so far). I can't compare the upscaling vs. my 3910 because I connected the A2 via component cables, and it won't upscale over component. My display has a DVI input, and I read there are some handshake and BTB problems with the A2 when going HDMI-to-DVI, so I never bought an HDMI-DVI cable but rather simply went component for HD-DVDs (and will stick with my 3910 for upscaling SD DVDs and for SACD/DVD-A). I have played an SD DVD on the A2, and it looked very good (although not quite as sharp as the 3910, which I like better for SD DVDs), but again, that is outputting 480p from the A2, not 720p or 1080i, so not a fair comparison with the 3910.