High tech for cheap, you can grab it here, if you still can (Marantz DV 6400)

Member Name: pcspinheiro

Product:	Marantz DV 6400
Date:	29/07/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: excellent universal player, fair substitute to a dedicated CD player

Disadvantages: Sound can be a bit harsh on the highs

Marantz is most famous by its hifi audio equipment but don't be fooled by this! The company has put out a few good DVD players over the years and this is one such player. I got this used off the internet for a small fraction of its retail price; what a bargain! Not only can it play DVDs and CDs (including MP3/WMA/JPEG) but also SACD and DVD Audio formats. It also features a built in decoder for DTS and Dolby Digital which is quite useful when on a budget like me at the time: just connect the decoded outputs to a capable self amplified speaker package (or computer speakers like I did) and you have cinema sound for cheap. Of course you can also use it as a CD player and the quality is pretty darn good, although I found that the highs were a bit harsh. Or maybe just too "metallic" for my ears... I never did try the SACD or DVD Audio discs but CD playback was flawless and quite enjoyable (were it not for the "metallic highs") due to the use of high quality components and audio decoder. When listening to music alone you can even turn off the image-related circuitry to get the smallest electronic interference possible. The built in decoder is also quite capable and delivers nicely resolved audio channels. You can tweak the audio output to better suit your needs using the player's menu.

And speaking of menu, I'd say it is well conceived and logically laid out and one can access the most common tasks quite intuitively.

But this is a DVD player so what about picture quality? Well now you have all other fancy formats with high definition, but this is still a very good player with a very crisp image and very good color rendering. I was using an oldie (but very good in it's class) Grundig Xenaro player that died on me and the switch was immediately noticeable. Especially to those using a large LCD without HD capabilities this little machine will show you just how good the picture of a DVD movie can be. You can probably still scoop them off the internet for very, very cheap.

Summary: A great product that will please the music and movies enthusiast

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Ease of use:
Installation:
Picture quality:
Features: