Audiophile Quality 2 Channel DVD Audio?

Here's another recommendation for the Denon 3910. A superb player for very little money. Gently used ones are selling for $450+ on Audiogon - this is a smokin' deal.

-RW-

Thanks for your insights and recomendation of the denon 3910. It's disappointing that there is not a lot of DVDA programing out there, but my interest in historical performaces leads me to think that collecting a library that documents 20th century conductors and performers is worth the effort . Also it seems to me that there should be a small but steady stream of Tape transferred to Digital format as the archivists seek to preserve those documents in a more permanent form. Again, thanks.

Onkyo has what has to be the best value in high definition digital equipment. The A-9555 digital integrated amp and the DV-SP504 are a killer combo.

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?class=Amplifier&m=A-9555&p=i

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?class=DVD&m=DV-SP504&p=i

The DX-7555 CD player is the match for the A-9555 if you only listen to cd's.

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?class=Compact%20Disc&m=DX-7555&p=i

But if you want to get into DVD-A the DV-SP504 would be a good match for the A-9555.

I highly recommend DVD-A. Stereo sound quality is as good as it can get. 24bit/192KHz in stereo is plain and simple the highest detail most dynamic sound available right now. Thats 144db of dynamic range! That is leaps and bounds over what red-book CD can offer, no matter how you D/A convert it.

If you match the above system up with a pair of QUALITY monitors and matching subwoofer. I don't think sound can get much better then that for the average guy (budget).

The Onkyo A-9555 and DV-SP504 with Focal Chorus 800V bookshelf's and 800V subwoofer. Well Thats all I would need!

DVD-A can sound much better than SACD or CD, problem is the source material is mastered poorly, and no attention to detail is really made on the commercial side. The exception being the sound mirror Living Stereo releases on SACD which sound really good.

I do live to 2 track recording and burn my own DVD-A discs.
Comparing those to the same material on 16 CD really shows the difference the higher sampling rate and longer word lentgh makes.

I agree with Johnss - both SACD and DVD-A offer a dramatic improvement over Redbook CD. I think it depends a lot on your system though. For me, since installing Theta Enterprises, the difference is just huge. And FWIW, I find Multi-channel not worth much of my time. I do almost all of my listening in 2-channel in spite of being close to ideally set up for multi-channel.

Regarding a player, it is very much dependant on your budget. Right now I am using an Upgrade Company modded Denon 5910. It was an improvement over my Upgrade Company Esoteric DV-50 that was noticeably better than the venerable EMM Labs CDSA-SE. I would wholeheartedly recommend the very same player since it is so good on all formats.

And as far as being a niche product...so is vinyl. Once you begin to find companies such as High-Res and outlets that specialize in DVD-A and SACD (Elusive Disc, Acoustic Sounds, AIX, CD Universe, Music Direct…), the number of titles does increase somewhat. Still, don't expect to find much locally. All of my SACD/DVD-A discs are bought via internet/mail-order...the same way most people get their vinyl.