I'm looking for a DVD player that will upconvert to 1080i, but which also has a nice 2 channel audio component. Some of the models that I've been thinking of:
Honestly speaking the 2 channel of Denon & Marantz is quite disappointing. I compare them together recently.
I think you ought to give the Rotel & Arcam an audition before deciding. The Arcam should by far the best sounding 2channel followed by Rotel, Denon then Marantz. This is according to my listening preference for 2 channel. For video performance, I don't really care since all of the players mentioned are very good in that aspect.
The Onkyo SP1000 has significantly better build quality, sound, and UI/interface than the Marantz universal. Only thing it's missing is 480i over HDMI, but it sounds like you don't need that anyway if you're planning on upconverting at the player level.
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