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This Month's Featured Equipment Reviews |
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Source Components Forum Topics: |
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Classic Video Players Reviews |
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Past DVD Hardware / Software News |
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DVD Players
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Wednesday, 01 September 1999
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Written by
Tony Kaklamanos
Introduction
During
the past few years, we've seen the A/V family tree grow and bear more
fruit than ever before. Perhaps the most noticeable offspring is DVD.
With new titles being born daily and the fall in player prices, how can
you resist throwing down a few hundred bones and walking away with one
of these babies?
One thing that may be stopping you is
the "price vs. feature" dilemma. At $799, the Yamaha DVD-S700 is packed
full of features that may eliminate the anxiety of raising a home
theater system of your own. Read on.
The back panel of this unit is clear and concise, with plenty of output
options as your system continues to develop and mature. These options
include composite video, S-video and component video. The audio output
section employs the following outputs: stereo pairs, six-channel
discrete, coaxial and optical digital. If you thought you'd have to
replace your existing receiver/preamps to take ...
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Sunday, 01 August 1999
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Written by
Kim Wilson
Introduction
As largely evidenced by the huge selection of titles at retail
mega-outlets such as Tower and Virgin, reports of the Laserdisc's death
have been greatly exaggerated. According to Pioneer, who has invested
heavily in both Laserdisc hardware and software for the past fifteen
years, Laserdiscs will happily coexist with DVD for several more years
(how many more is anyone's guess). To that end, Pioneer keeps the
passion alive with products such as the Elite DVL-91, a combination LD,
DVD and CD player.
The Laserdisc portion is essentially identical to Pioneer's Elite
CLD-79, part of their current product line. However, the addition of a
DVD player turns the DVL-91 into an all-purpose player that should
satisfy your optical video playback needs for some time to come.
The unit, with its stylish rosewood side panels and elegant, shiny,
black Urushi finish, is essentially the same height as any Laserdisc
player, but contains a separate tray to ...
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Monday, 01 March 1999
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Written by
Greg Petan
Introduction
Having waited out the first generation of DVD players to pass through
the market, the $599 Toshiba SD-2108 is the first DVD player that has
found its way into my home theater. After all the hype that accompanied
the launch of DVD, I can say with confidence that the SD-2108 has
fulfilled - even surpassed my expectations of the new format.
Providing a DTS output, ColorStream component video outputs, one
S-video, one composite video and one component video output, the
SD-2108 is ready to mate with even the most demanding video
applications. Audio connections include both Toslink, and coaxial
digital outputs as well as two pairs of analog audio outputs.
Before I get to the performance of the SD-2108, let me stroke the good
people at Toshiba for designing a well thought out, intuitive and
responsive remote that made using the player an absolute joy. I
particularly enjoyed the 2X, 8X, and 30X ...
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Sunday, 01 February 1998
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Written by
Greg Petan
Introduction
"California, a profit on the burning shore"....... Estimated Profit,
Grateful Dead. Like that song of wisdom and spiritual fulfillment
coming to fruition, the California Audio Labs CL-20 DVD/CD player is a
flier into the promise of what the digital audio and video medium is
capable of today and a good measure of what we can expect as the
technology matures into the future. Capable of processing 24/96 DVD
audio, the CL-20 gave me my first extended exposure to what this new
medium is all about......about to turn 44.1kHZ into the likes of a
faded childhood nightmare.
The CL-20 has HDCD processing, DAC outputs at 96, 48 and 44.1kHz. Other
outputs include two Dolby Digital AC-3 5.1, two 24bit/96kHz PCM digital
audio, coax and AES/EBU and RS-232 digital interface for future
software upgrades. Video outputs are composite and S-video. Well
constructed and fairly massive at 20 lbs. the CL-20 cuts a pretty clean
profile. The ...
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Thursday, 01 January 1998
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Written by
Jerry Del Colliano
Introduction
The
Sony DVP-S7700 is a $1,400 DVD player that features DTS and AC3 audio,
as well as component video outputs to feed a high-performance AV
playback system. A good friend of mine who is a manufacturer in the
high-end home electronics industry put it well when he said, "With the
quality of DVD players coming out of Japan under $2,000, why should you
spend $5,000 on some tweaked-out machine?" After spending time
evaluating the Sony DVP-S7700, I am starting to agree with him.
The front panel of the 7700 is pleasantly devoid of the overabundant
buttons and controls typically found on a mass market DVD player. The
main panel folds open with an ease and sex appeal that is normally
reserved for B&O. After the front panel folds down, the slender
CD/DVD tray smoothly opens for you to insert your source material.
You’ll find an On/Off switch, a useful headphone jack and volume
control, ...
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