Travis' humble home theatre.

[Travis Bickle]

Well here it is:

Monitor- Toshiba TW40X81 HDTV ready, 16:9 widescreen

Receiver- Pioneer VSX-D850S. It has DD and DTS, also is DTS-ES compatible, component video switching 2/1, DVD-Audio/SACD ready and 4 digital inputs. This replaces my old Pioneer receiver which only had DD and 1 digital input. While the old Pioneer supported AC3 RF for my laser disc player the new one doesn't. I'll have to find an external RF demodulator and I have no idea how much they cost.

DVD- Pioneer Elite DV-45A and I have an XBox with the DVD playback kit and the HDTV breakout box to hook up to the rest of my system.

Laser Disc- Denon LA-2300. Plays AC3 (dolby digital) laser discs! Yes! Star Wars in DD!

MD Recorder- Sony MXD-D5C. Its a 5 CD to MD recorder. Has a MDLP feature which compresses the content further so you can squeeze up to 4X the amount of tunes onto a MD.

VCR- Mitsubishi HS-U56. Its really old.

Speakers- My front speakers and rear surrounds are Energy speakers 3.1 "E" series, the centre channel speaker is also Energy ECC-1. The sub woofer is a PSB, powered at 90 watts, 12" woofer.

In the near future, I'll want to possibly get a DVD video/audio player or DVD video/SACD player. I don't know of any manufacturers that make a reasonably priced DVD-A & SACD player yet, has anyone else heard of one? I will also be getting HDTV via satellite soon, I haven't decided which company to go with yet.

[MrTony]

The Apex AD-7701 is a DVD-Video/DVD-Audio/VCD/SACD/CD/MP3 player that lists for $350. It's reviewed in the Feb. 2002 issue of Sound and Vision (review doesn't appear to be on the site yet, but there you go anyway). They say it's a good DVD-Video player, but leaves a little bit to be desired in the DVD-Audio and SACD playback departments. Also, they're supposedly putting a firmware upgrade on their website. Anyway, it sounds like a shaky start, but at least someone's trying to make a universal player.

[Travis Bickle]

Thanks for the link MrTony. Wow! The AD 7701 looks like it does it all! I checked out the specs and it even supports progressive scan and HDCD for $350. Cool! Although, Apex wouldn't be my first choice for player (I was leaning more towards the toshiba SD 5700), this should at least encourage other manufacturers to make more affordable 'universal' players.

I read their company profile and they claim to have the second biggest market share for DVD players in the US and Canada, right behind Sony Corp. So you would think other DVD companys, who want a bigger market share (and why wouldn't they ), would take note and make their own affordable 'universal' player.

[tomdkat]

Originally posted by Travis Bickle
I read their company profile and they claim to have the second biggest market share for DVD players in the US and Canada, right behind Sony Corp. So you would think other DVD companys, who want a bigger market share (and why wouldn't they ), would take note and make their own affordable 'universal' player.

Well, I would guess the reason for Apex beingn #2 in the market is MORE due to the low cost of their players MORE than the reputation of the players. Sony has obviously made a great name for itself and backs it up with great products.

I think people bought Apex players because they were SOOO inexpensive and necessarily because they were the BEST players on the street. If they WERE the best players in existence, we would ALL have them because they were so inexpensive. Maybe MOST of us would own them since the HTPC folks would probably keep their HTPCs.



Peace....

[Travis Bickle]

Originally posted by tomdkat
Well, I would guess the reason for Apex beingn #2 in the market is MORE due to the low cost of their players MORE than the reputation of the players. Sony has obviously made a great name for itself and backs it up with great products.

I think people bought Apex players because they were SOOO inexpensive and necessarily because they were the BEST players on the street. If they WERE the best players in existence, we would ALL have them because they were so inexpensive. Maybe MOST of us would own them since the HTPC folks would probably keep their HTPCs.



Peace....

I agree. I think they got that much of the DVD market by making their players as inexpensive as possible. Very competitive! And seeing that they're a fairly new company they don't have much of a reputation (good or bad) with regards to their products. I suppose a good reputation will come, in time.

[slade]

FYI: you can pick up an RF demodulator on ebay for about $150 - $200.

[tomdkat]

Originally posted by slade
FYI: you can pick up an RF demodulator on ebay for about $150 - $200.

I paid *WAY* too much for mine..... (I actually have 2)

Peace.....

[Travis Bickle]

Well, I finally upgraded my DVD player! It only took about a year, but I managed to finally get that universal player I always wanted. Its not the Apex. It is, however, the Pioneer Elite DV-45A. I ordered it online, just before New Years, through a US retailer which has a Canadian partner for sales in this country. It finally came about a week ago and am I ever impressed!

It took quite awhile to set up, not that it was overly complicated or confusing. Its just that I had to rewire part of my HT to accomodate another component video player (the other being the XBox). My receiver has 2 component inputs/ 1 output, so now all of those are used up. Plus, the fact that the Elite requires about 10-11 cables to fully enjoy all of its features, and working in a confined A/V rack made for a challenging install.

My DVDs look much better in progressive scan, and the DVD-Audio discs sound great in advanced resolution. I have yet to hear an SACD yet. I do have afew on order and am patiently waiting for my order to come in the mail. You know, around here its fairly simple to find a local retailer that sells DVD-Audio discs but it sure is hard to find anyone who sells SACDs. Which is ashame since theirs quite afew upcoming SACD titles that I definitely would be interested in. Does anyone in my area know of where I can find a store with a decent selection of SACDs?

[mrkeeling]

Hey Travis, I just got my Pioneer DV-45A as well!
I hear you man about poor availability of SACD disks (and the ones that are coming soon and I definitely want them). I was desperately looking for one, to evaluate the player when it arrived and it was really hard to find.
The only stores that have some in stock (and selection is far from decent) are A&B Sound downtown and Virgin Megastore downtown (Virgin being way more expensive). The disc that I picked up (for testing purposes) was Diana Krall: When I Look In Your Eyes. It’s not quite my cup of tea but it is not bad at all. Her voice and music can really show of the quality of SACD. The disc is multichannel (and stereo), one of the cheapest available in store ($20.something) and she is our local girl after all, so I picked it up.

[Travis Bickle]

Originally posted by mrkeeling
Hey Travis, I just got my Pioneer DV-45A as well!
I hear you man about poor availability of SACD disks (and the ones that are coming soon and I definitely want them). I was desperately looking for one, to evaluate the player when it arrived and it was really hard to find.
The only stores that have some in stock (and selection is far from decent) are A&B Sound downtown and Virgin Megastore downtown (Virgin being way more expensive). The disc that I picked up (for testing purposes) was Diana Krall: When I Look In Your Eyes. It’s not quite my cup of tea but it is not bad at all. Her voice and music can really show of the quality of SACD. The disc is multichannel (and stereo), one of the cheapest available in store ($20.something) and she is our local girl after all, so I picked it up.

Thats great, mrkeeling! You got the same player!
I really have just one minor complaint about the players remote. And thats the joystick navigation feature that I could do without, I would have preferred directional buttons instead.
I have seen SACDs at the downtown A&B but I didn't know that the Virgin Megastore carries them as well. Where are the SACDs located in Virgin? Downstairs or upstairs? Are they in a special section or are they just filed under the artist?

[mrkeeling]

Sorry Travis it took me so long.

I do not mind joystick on the remote, but what I REALLY do not like is lack of “video off” (audio only) button on the remote. I hate that I have to get up and press the button on the player.

As far as Virgin goes, I have never been there, but what I could conclude from phone conversations with their sales people, SACD’s are all in one section downstairs. Prices for all the titles I inquired about were $5-6 higher than in A&B Sound, so I never bothered to actually go there.