Sony 555ES or Denon 2200 DVD--Recommendations?

[marc]

I have an opportunity to pick between either a Sony 555ES DVD changer or a Denon 2200 which a local dealer I've worked with is selling at pretty good prices -- the Sony is lower than Crutchfield's site -- and, of course there'd be no shipping.

I have a Sony DA4ES receiver. Don't know if that matters much ... we use a 3rd party universal remote anyway.

So it would be pretty much on quality and specs anyway. Are single players still really better than changers? I had been pretty much confining my research lately to the 2200. Since one is a single and one is a changer, can't do a direct comparison on Crutchfield's site. Sony has the 5-year warranty though ...

[peterl69]

I haven't compared the two (Denon 2200 vs Sony555ES DVD) - but have an experience with the Sony 555ES DVD.

At the end of two days of breaking in my new B&W 804's Nautilus speakers, I put away my old Sony player CD player and connected the new Sony 555ES to play a regular CD (non SACD, etc). I experienced an immediate annoying and intolerable level of harshness from my speakers. In all fairness, B&W's can be harsh when they are being broken in but they had been played for two days and the high's should have mellowed enough by then. It could be the enhanced fidelity from the Sony caused the problem with the new B&W's as they had not broken in enough yet, or it could simply be (which I suspect) that the Sony 555ES when playing regular CDs has a tendency to be bright and forward in the high freqency range.

With some uncertainty, from my experience I would say that if your speakers tend to be in the bright range already as B&W's tend to be (I call them wonderfully clear, spacial, lucid, etc), I recommend reserve about using the Sony555ES for regular CD play. And conversely, if they are a little dull at the upper end, the Sony DVD/CD player may be just the ticket. As for me, I took the unit back without even checking out the capabilities of rest of the system.

[topspeed]

The specs for the Denon are superior to the Sony in just about every facet (check Crutchfield) and especially in cd playback. In addition, if you want to hear DVD-A's, you can scrap the Sony altogether. Your decision could be as simple as that.

I've never really cared for the way Sony treats rbcd playback and my impressions pretty well mirror Peter's: bright, somewhat sterile, not very engaging. The Denon's Burr-Brown's DAC's are a known quantity and rightfully so. In PureDirect, the sound is far smoother, warmer, and more musical to my ears. I'm not a video guy so I have no idea which unit provides a better image.

Good luck and buy whatever sounds and/or images best to you.

[marc]

Yeah, I noticed later that the Sony didn't play DVD-A ... wonder why :)

The dealer concurred that the Denon video is better. They're writing up the 2200 for me this afternoon, for pickup after work ...

[topspeed]

Congrats! That unit was reviewed very favorably in TPV with the reviewer saying he preferred it to the 2900. Keep us posted on your impression of the unit.

BTW, the Sony probably doesn't support DVDA because SACD was co-developed by Sony and Phillips, therefore they would be hesitant to support the obvious competitor to their baby.

Enjoy!

[marc]

BTW, the Sony probably doesn't support DVDA because SACD was co-developed by Sony and Phillips, therefore they would be hesitant to support the obvious competitor to their baby.

Enjoy!

Oh, I know .... that's why I used the :) when I "wondered why" :D

And ... thanks... I plan on enjoying big .... I just am puzzled to find out whether the Sony receiver will automatically switch to the multichannel analog inputs when I play an SACD or not, because I also have optical out plugged into the receiver.

etc.....

[Krazykaj]

I haven't tested the sony but i have lived with the denon 2200 for a while now and it has been excellent in all areas, DVD audio, SACD, DVD video. The video side is great, i can't go back to interlaced pictures any more :)

I can highly reccomend it, i've been using it with a Z9 and it has been great.

cheers
KJ