| V Inc. Bravo D2 DVD Player |
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| Home Theater Video Players DVD Players | |||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Ben Shyman | |||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 01 July 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||
Page 3 of 3 The Downside In my mind, the Bravo D2 is a digital audio and video transport more than anything else. Video quality was exceptional on the DVI output, although there was occasional and slight ghosting, graininess and video noise. These critiques must be put in proper perspective in that the slight maladies I mention are far less than you might see from the component or S-video output on most DVD players near this price. V, Inc. could improve the speed of the Bravo D2, which at times is painfully slow for this gotta-get-what-I-want-when-I-want-it New York GenXer. I know the price of the unit is one of its calling cards, but if the unit could have somehow added DVD-Audio and SACD playback even for $200 over the current price, the player would still be one of the best values in the industry. Maybe those specs would make for another higher-priced product? Conclusion At the end of the day, V, Inc. is offering outstanding value in the Bravo D2. If you own a digital display with a DVI input, you are making a monumental mistake in not auditioning the Bravo D2. If you are on a budget, buying the Bravo D2 affords the luxury of spending less on your disc transport and more on your display, speakers and processor. I could see the Bravo D2 fitting in comfortably with any DVI-enabled display and a mid-priced home theater receiver from Denon, Pioneer, Yamaha, Marantz, Integra or Sony. Add speakers and you are on your way to exceptional home theater without going broke. I can also see many home theater enthusiasts using the Bravo D2 exclusively for DVD and buying a separate SACD or DVD-Audio player for high-resolution music. This would be a knockout combination and an ideal way to get the most bang for the buck when choosing components for your home theater set-up. While it is totally unfair to compare the Bravo D2 to my reference system, which contains a $3,000 Lexicon RT-10 Universal DVD/SACD player and a $4,500 Faroudja NRS-DVI video processor, I frequently switched back and forth during each disc in this review to accurately judge the video limitations of the Bravo D2. While there was no comparison in picture quality, one could consider it a powerful compliment that the Bravo D2 was even able to “hang” with my system and withstand A/B comparisons against a disc player and video processor that combined cost over 30 times as much. At $249, the V, Inc. Bravo D2 is an amazing DVD player in terms of performance and especially value.
3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
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