Universal Players. Marantz 8400 vs.Denon 5900

Haven't heard the Denon, but there was a recent comparison done here by someone of the two players. Plug "Marantz DV8400" into Discussion Forums and it will come up. As to the Marantz itself, there is a very favorable short blurb on it under Recommended Components in the new Absolute Sound, and it exactly matches my listening: extremely clear and detailed in all formats, with a wide dynamic range, but a bit bright. Needs a warm cable like Cardas Golden Reference. Despite that, plays DVD-A beautifully, is very good on SACD and very respectable on CD. This weekend I heard the Teac Esoteric DV-50 universal player at a dealer, and it was superb, definitely better than the Marantz--which it should be, given that it lists at more than 3 times as much. I can't justify the difference because I already have a lot sunk into CD and SACD playbck, but for anyone who doesn't, the Esoteric is the way to go. Otherwise, the Marantz is a perfect choice.

I haven't heard the Marantz, but I can give the Denon a rave. I'm a new convert to SACD. I tried the Sony DVD 999ES and I own the Sony 775 carousel. I can't recommed either one. In both cases, the CD layer sounds better going through my DAC2 than the SACD layer through the unit's internal DAC. I was conviced SACD was totally worthless. However the Denon 5900 changes all that. SACD sounds wonderful, amazing, better than my Bel Canto DAC2. And picture is superb. What a unit!!!! I haven't tried DVD-A yet, becasue I don't have any discs, but I am confident that I will be pleased

Ozzy you might take a look at the (endless) 5900 thread over at avsforum. Lots of video talk of course, but there are some serious audiophiles contributing also. One says the Denon nearly matches his Consonance, close enough that he's put the latter up for sale here.

People are also considering having Underwoodwally mod the analog stage of a 5900 for them. He's just waiting for schematics from Denon.

Have not heard the Denon, but I have acquired the DV 8400 just recently and can say its awesome. Superb video, and all audio formats are excellent as well. I disagre with the above comment about the Marantz being bright, its anything but in my system, which is very revealing and transparent sounding. You just cannot go wrong with this unit. Highly recommended.

Dougdeacon,

Regarding Underwoodwally, he sends them to Chris Johnson (of Sonic Frontier's fame). Parts Connecxion has already modded well over a dozen of the 5900s.

Incidently for those interested, they honor the Denon warranty after it is modded....unlike other modders. This is a BIG, BIG plus in my book. This is what he told me:

"...we will honour the warranty...PCX will either repair it, or get it repaired (by Denon), at our cost, over the same warranty period DENON offers..."

The only thing I'm NOT SURE of is whether one has to buy the player from them for this offer. That said, they do have a very good price on the stock 5900....at least here in Canada.