Denon 2900: Questions, comments

I replaced an elcheapo Pioneer DV45A with the Denon 2900. I notice improved SACD audio quality, but not anything dramatic for DVD-A and CD. I leave the subtle audio evaluations (with various interconnects, etc.) to others.

However, I must comment on the purely functional aspects: loading discs and the like. In this regard the Pioneer was much better. Sometimes the Denon will not load a disc until I recycle it. The Pioneer had a nice feature: if you turned its power off while the disc drawer was open it would close the drawer before shutting down. The Denon takes much longer to load a disc. Little things, but I winder why, at more than twice the price, Denon couldn't get it right like Pioneer.

The Denon 2900 is vibration and power cord sensitive. The sound will change pretty much all over the map depending on the power cord - from terrible to quite good, which is possibly a reason why reviews have been so variable. Its cd performance isn't up to its (2-ch) sacd and dvd-a, both of which are considerably better than on my previous Pioneer 47a. I don't find it forward; rather, it is fairly neutral with a full bottom. When optimized for ac/vibration, the things lacking sonically compared to more expensive players are absolute clarity, edge definition, refinement and chromatic/dynamic detail. What more can you expect from a $900 player? The Denon does very well with ambience and space, and it sounds as though its snr measures well. Consider modding.

Bob: I'm not trying to sell cables as i'm not in the audio business. I provided those links for two reasons. One is to show that not everything has to cost a lot of money to work well. The other was to provide some background on the "no-names" that i was using from someone else's perspective.

El: I have to agree with you in general. That is, why can one player / model do some things SO much better than the competition ? As a side note, if you think that the Denon is slow, you don't want to try using a newer Philips machine. The Philips units don't even play DVD-A ( not as many different discs to recognize ) and on top of that, they are so sloooooow to change tracks, etc... As far as recognizing that there is a disc there, i've not had a problem with that. Put a disc in, wait a few seconds and then it's ready to go. No need for resetting, etc...

As to your comments about the sonics of the 2900, this unit seems to really need a lot of playing time on it. With all digital gear that i get, i simply install a disc ( i have some specifics i use for this ) and let it play on repeat "forever". Some players seem to settle in after about 72 hours whereas others ( like the Denon ) need hundreds of hours. On top of this, as you change modes, you change filter circuitry. What i'm getting at is that each mode of playback needs to be broken in individually.

For those that are worried about leaving a unit on repeat and / or the extra wear and tear, units that i've done this with seem to last as long or longer than units that were not broken in this way by others. I also leave my units powered up 24/7 though, so there is less thermal cycling and in-rush current surges to deal with. Yes, my SACD 1000 did "croak", but it was powered up for about 11 months non-stop. Many SACD 1000's didn't make it past a few weeks or even a couple of months before faulty circuitry gave out. Either i was lucky or my break-in / constant power routine helped a little.

Flex: Thanks for the info. I have not spent much time on SACD's with this unit. I don't have any DVD-A's, so you can guess where i'm at in this respect. Your comments about sonics are quite encouraging. As such, i probably need some more time on my unit and further attention to cabling. I'm certain that a power cord swap will help things out too.

Out of curiosity, what have you ended up finding to work well with your unit in the confines of your system in terms of footers, power cords, interconnects, etc ??? For sake of clarity, what type of rack do you have your player in ? The reason that i ask is that each rack has different factors to take into consideration i.e. isolation, coupling, rigidity, etc... "Ben" might find good luck with some specific products, but "Jerry" might have a very different rack. As such, one should not assume that what works in one system will work in another due to all of the variables. In case you're wondering, i am a firm believer that racks do contribute their sonic signature to the system.

My 2900 is in my HT system, which is housed in a 10 shelf Sanus rack. While far from ideal, it was inexpensive and utilitarian, especially so since i could purchase the parts wholesale : ) As such, the shelves are part of the support structure, which i really don't like, but at this point in time, that's what i've got to use. I haven't tinkered with any type of footer underneath this unit, so i'm more than open to suggestions taking into account the type of rack that i'm currently using.

As far as your comments about "modding" the unit go, i definitely have that in mind for this unit. I hesitated to do so with my SACD 1000 after so many people had problems with them. That is, i didn't want to void the warranty doing mods and then have the unit take a dive. I've got more confidence in the 2900, even though i know that they had some initial problems with these units too. For the record, i've seen "refurbed" 2900's on the market, but i was told by a friend of mine that is a dealer to stay away from these. According to him, the folks that refurb these for Denon do a less than stellar job. This is not to mention that many of the places selling these are NOT authorized Denon dealers and you don't get ANY warranty with them. Sean
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sean...The Denon disc loading issue comes up when you switch from one type of disc to another (CD, SACD, DVDA, or DVDV. It does not always happen, and I am not sure exactly what situation gets the machine confused. Cycling the drawer always seems to solve the problem.

Sean,

Regarding cables and racks, a few comments on what has worked in my system.

I dislike cones, bearings, elastomers and the like because of the inevitable sonic signatures, so I haven't put time into these and can't offer advice. The Denon does well on my recently acquired Grand Prix Monaco rack, which of course wasn't bought for the Denon. The GP btw is the quietest and least signature-prone rack I've had experience with. Previous to the GP, the best support was a Neuance alpha shelf, and for an affordable solution, I'd be tempted to try a newer Neuance replacement shelf with your existing rack. It doesn't need cones and should be evenhanded over a wide bandwidth, particularly if the bass is tighter and deeper than on the alpha.

On interconnects, my experience may parallel some of yours. Of the half dozen ic's I've tried, the Denon became unlistenable with cables known for forwardness or brightness, including a pair of Nordost Quattro Fil, and silver ic's with some residual silver brightness (e.g older Pure Notes). These were less problematic with my solid state cd front end cabled identically, so the Denon exacerbates the brightness. Interconnects that I've had good results with on the other hand are non-bright silvers (especially Empirical pc-holophonics) and MIT (copper,expensive) that provide neutrality, speed, detail, good staging, etc

Power cords may be system-dependent, but I've had a couple of dozen of them available during the Denon's residence and they all show the colorations they are known for. I agree with what I take to be the implied conclusions in Bill Gaw's review that numerous well-known pc's seemingly aimed at tubed systems sound variously thick and heavy, dark, slow, rolled off, fat, bright, whatever, with the Denon. Again, it responded best to neutral, quick, and detailed sound, and that correlated with low inductance, low capacitance, and generally unshielded cords. IMS, it shows a particular affinity for an MIT Oracle3 power cord; it also works with Pure Note and Empirical. It works particularly well with open airy sound (Pure Note Sigma, probably TG Audio) but the Sigma lacks bass IMS and is far from uncolored. For the record, my system is solid state and revealing, and the front end power cords plug into a Sound Application line stage plc.

A number of companies are working on mods for the 2900 - Exemplar Audio, Underwood, and Ric Schultz that I know of. Warranties are a lost cause after a year anyway, and things are evolving in the high rez business, so you may be trying something else a few years from now.