I've read several reviews on the Pioneer Universal DVD Player and many of them say that it doesn't sound very good when playing a regular cd in stereo. An article I read also said it doesn't sound nearly as good as the Denon (that costs over $800.00 more) but you might not notice it on low to mid-range speakers. They tested it on really high end speakers in a lab. I can't remember what brand, but they were in the $6000.00 range. I have a Hsu Vtf-2 sub and CSW Newton MC300's in a 6.1 setup (NOT HIGH END. Does anyone here have one and care to comment? Santa might bring me one...