Best under $2000.00 : Denon,Marantz,Onkyo,Pioneer?

Here is a quote from Ears at Audio Circle

The only comparison I have seen was in a German reveiw and the Onkyo won over the Marantz 9500 for video and audio..."although they did mention that the Marantz was slightly more musical so the audio side might be best compared in your systym."

Hey Ears , here at Audiogon we are all "EARS"

Hey Daryl, why don't you just read the reveiw as the Onkyo won in every category over the 9500 and that is the bottom line.

I have been here a bit longer than you slick.....so I don't get your here at Audiogon thing at all.

Hey Ears , sorry did not mean to come off so harsh. Its just that your comments made me interested in the machine, so when I see at Audio Circle , your quote , that perhaps the Marantz is more musical, and the original poster clearly is interested in sonics as his priority, I felt your thread was essentially saying forget auditioning everything else , get the Onkyo. And the Onkyo certainly looks like a nice machine. If the original poster had asked Whats the best overall universal for 2K , the Onkyo would certainly be on the short list.

Thanks for all of your excellent responses guys!
I am currently leaning towards the Onkyo DV-SP1000, and the Marantz DV-9500. I can get a better price on the Onkyo SP1000, so it is actually at the very top of my list.
PLUS, the build quality looks simply AWESOME!
Has anyone out there personally compared the Onkyo DV-SP1000 head-to-head with the Marantz DV-9500, or heard both units? If so, what were the results?
Thanks again!

Daryl, the original poster in that thread is going to be purchasing a better display so that is why I reccomended the sp 1000 without hesitation.
Because he is primarily interested in music for now, I thought I would add that tid bit about the 9500 being a touch more musical in the German reveiw and still losing out to the sp 1000 for audio.
Reading between the lines, I would say it might be a systym dependent choice for audio between the two.
Keep in mind that all these universals cost about the same as in the U.S. in these reveiws except for one.
The sp 1000 sells for about 5k U.S. in Europe and elsewhere, and can be had for less than 2k in the U.S.

Dalton, I have seen no personal comparisons of the sp 1000 and 9500, but whith the 30 day return policy offered by a few retailers, perhaps you could be the first.

I was considering comparing them myself until I got way too busy with work to do a proper comparison.
I still may compare the two, but it will be after christmas before I have time.