[bcwang]

Anyone know the difference between these two dvd players? The specs look the same and the units look the same too other than the color.


Are either of these good units for picture and sound quality? I'm guessing the cd playback quality is good, with it's wolfson dacs, but I wonder why they didn't make it a DVD-A player.

 

[bcwang]

Nevermind, now that the search engine works again I found the answer. They're the same player with different styling.


But has anyone compared the picture and sound quality with other players? The styling on this player is very nice.

 

[TonyS]

I can't comment definitively on the video quality of the DVD-25, but according to H/K, it uses the National Semiconuctor Pantera chip. Therefore I think it would be safe to expect performance (including zoom!) comparable to the JVC line.

 

[rauer]

Not sure if this applies to the US model of DVD 25, but the European version does have the NDV8601 chip and not Pantera.

 

[TonyS]

I'm basing my info on what I was told by H/K Tech Support when I called them to inquire about the chipset.

 

[rauer]

I'm basing my comment on this thread on AVforums (the poster's H/K contact first tells it's the Pantera but later corrects it to 8601):

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showt...threadid=38632


A quote from it: "This just in --

My contact at H/K checked with their chief engineer, and corrected his previous statement. With no further ado;


The DVD25 is equipped with the 8601."


However, I haven't opened my player, so I could be wrong..

 

[mad_arab]

How does that chipset measure up for quality on progressive PAL/NTSC thru component? I was also considering the Philips 963SA, which has PAL/NTSC progressive output too, and it has the (better?) Genesis FLI2310 chipset.


What is you take on it? HK DVD-25 or Philips 963SA? The rumoured problems with the progressive output on the Philips confuse me, since reviews tells me the chip is excellent.

 

[tluxon]

Same here, mad_arab. I'm still looking for the player that has the right mix of price and functionality. I was hopeful about the Philips 963SA because of the DVD-A/SACD capability along with the FLI2300 scaling deinterlacer, but no one has come out saying, "Wow - the 963's picture is great!"


I have an HK receiver, and would love the matching DVD25, except I've seen that it has the Mediamatics mpeg decoder (same as JVC), which although it is chroma bug free, is said to be less than stellar with video-based content.


I haven't been happy with the build quality of the Panasonic CP72, which looked like a lot of bang-for-the-buck. And I'm not happy with the Yamaha C920, which has a great picture and sound, but lacks features like remote power on/off and time remaining functions. These are deal breakers to me.


Maybe I'll have to keep the relatively inexpensive CP72 until the right one comes along.


Tim