DVD Player Versus Universal Player Help Further Clarification Wanted

[hershon]

Expanding on some comments made by NAbstentia & others, am I interpreting the following correctly: In terms of CD sound, a good current progressive scan DVD player will produce as good if not better CD sound than a good CD player and a good "Universal Player" will produce as good CD sound if not better than a good progressive scan DVD player, in general, or am I misinterpreting something?

If Super Audio CD's are not important to me, am I then better off (economically) buying a good progressive scan DVD player, to get the most for my money playing CD's?

Assume I'm going to still use the same receiver and speakers.

Any DVD players you'd recommend for the CD sound quality. What about Universal players? My only concern is CD sound quality not a mirriad of features. Any help appreciated.

[topspeed]

If you're not interested in SACD/DVD-A, you're better off finding a good dvd player with great video processing and DAC's. A universal player is, as its name implies, one that plays anything on a 5" disc. You don't sound like you need this so why pay for it? If you are planning on using your JVC to still decode your audio signal via digital cable, I'd concentrate on finding the best possible picture quality available at your price point and not worry about what kind of DAC's it has. I've heard Faroudja chips are a good start, but I'm far from an expert. Woochifer or Sir TT are far better versed in this stuff.

[drseid]

Expanding on some comments made by NAbstentia & others, am I interpreting the following correctly: In terms of CD sound, a good current progressive scan DVD player will produce as good if not better CD sound than a good CD player and a good "Universal Player" will produce as good CD sound if not better than a good progressive scan DVD player, in general, or am I misinterpreting something?

If Super Audio CD's are not important to me, am I then better off (economically) buying a good progressive scan DVD player, to get the most for my money playing CD's?

Assume I'm going to still use the same receiver and speakers.

Any DVD players you'd recommend for the CD sound quality. What about Universal players? My only concern is CD sound quality not a mirriad of features. Any help appreciated.

I believe you are indeed misinterpreting something...

A dedicated CD player will *generally* sound better than a DVD player (prog. scan, DVD-A, SACD or otherwise) for playing *CDs* if both players are the same or similarly priced... Of course, like anything else, the key word is "generally."

SACD and DVD-A DVD players tend to have better sound than "regular" DVD players of the same, or similar price points, because they need certain minimal sound requirements in order to pass the DVD-A or SACD signals... This *can* mean that they offer better CD sound than a "regular" DVD player (progressive scan or non-progressive scan). The fact that a player is progressive scan, however, has *nothing* to do with its sound. The progressive scan aspect has to do with its picture.

Hope that clarifies things a bit. :-)

---Dave