Progressive DVD Changer + Good CD Sound?

Rjhd --

Well, you've stumped me. The only multidisc CD
player that I know of that has what could be called "excellent sound" is made by McIntosh and goes
for $2,500 [New]. It uses a Nakamichi "magazine"
type loader, which holds 5 discs. Nakamichi makes
a 5 disc player, the MB-10, with the same loader.
It goes for $499 [New]. Neither of those payers will
play DVD's, SACD's, or DVD-A's. I am not aware of
any Carousel type players with excellent sound,
but I have not been shopping in that arena for awhile
so there may be players like that which fit your description of which I am not aware. On the other hand, I wouldn't necessarily look to a carousel player for great sound -- the two don't usually go together.
But, if you have a pre-pro with excellent DAC's, you
could probably plug a carousel player into it via
coaxial digital cable and get decent sound. In that
case, I would look at the Panasonic units because
they make the best DVD players for the money. On
still another hand, if you have a pre-pro with excellent
DAC's, it'd be a shame to plug a carousel player
into it.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

So is there an engineering limitation on Carousel vs magazine style changers? I was not aware of that issue, although I could see that platter stability could become trickier with the larger form needed with a rotating carousel player.

So far I've come to the same conclusion, that the best dvd changer route would be to track down a Panasonic and use outboard processing for the sound. I'll likely demo the Denon and NAD next week if I can't find the Panny anywhere.

Thanks for the input!

-R

Players to check out --

Panasonic XP-50

Philips 963sa

Denon DVD 1600

Of the three, I believe the Philips will have the
best sound. It will also play SACD's. The other
two will play DVD-A's. All three are excellent progressive scan DVD players that will also
play CD's. I also believe the Philips would be
the best transport to play through a pre-pro or
outboard DAC. All of these are single disc players.

Thanks Rsbeck, but I was looking for feedback on changers.

The XP-50 and 1600 are not changers, nor do I think is the Philips. :-)

-Robert

If anyone has experience with the Denon 1805 I'd be interested in hearing that!

R

The only two dvd/cd combos that come to mind that are available are the Kenwood DV-5700(has DCDi by Faroudja) and the Integra DPC-5.3. The Integra will most likely have the chroma bug. The integra will get you S/N ratio of 98db.
Denon may have one buy I don't think so.