Denon 3910 Universal Player - Opinions?

As far as my little comparison on the 3910 and sp 1000, they both have the blacker than black bug for hdmi/dvi connections.

I checked for macro blocking, and found no objectional excessive macro blocking in movies that definitly show it.
The 480p was great for both players, but the 1000 made movies such as Unbreakable, have a smoother background throughout the film and offered the same great detail as the 3910 at the same time.

Audio comparisons were all done in 2 channel whith the 1000 having a more laid back soundstage and more body whithin the soundstage.
The 3910 initially sounds pretty good,but I would say its on the bright side of neutral for redbook and sa-cd.

The 3910 did not handle complex music as well as the 1000, and also had a slightly lean sounding midrange.

I don't listen to much dvd-a, but I found the 1000 too laid back as compared to the 3910 for dvd-a, and would pick the 3910 for that format.

I think the 3910 is a better player (other than build) to the 5900.
It offers slightly better video whithout excessive macro blocking, and good sound for the money.

If I had tried the 3910 first, I am sure I would be happy whith it, other than the hdmi/dvi btb problem.
Whith the 1000, it is worth the extra money for build, smoother film image and the neutral sonics, but it also has the hdmi/dvi btb problem.

Why can't these companys get this right?

Greg

Ears. Nice review. People keep saying some of these players have "better build" than others. I am curious, on what grounds is this being determined?

Bwhite, you can look at close ups of both of these players guts at the Crutchfield site.

The sp 1000 has a lot beefier power supply that includes a torridal transformer.
The tray on the sp 1000 glides out smoothly whithout a peep, where the 3910, you can hear the tray easily make a low level grinding or clicking noise.
The transport on the 1000, is more like one you might find on more expensive hi end gear, and the transport tray on the 3910 seems cheap in comparison.....no offense to 3910 owners.

The build difference is real obvious in person, but hard to describe whithout making the 3910 sound cheaper than it is.

The fact that the 1000 is a lot more responsive to commands, disc reading ect tends to make the perceived better build quality seem better yet.

The only thing the 1000 does slow is dvd-a, and I find both players to be way too slow when using dvd-a.

BTW... I do not automatically assume that the better build sounds or looks better on any source, but when they do perform better, it offers a sense of getting what you paid for, which is really just an added nice bonus.

While I don't beleive the 3910 looks bad in general,it pales in comparison to the 1000 in the looks department....but that is subjective.

The 1000 weighs 27 lbs, but if you look at pictures of both players guts at the Crutcfield site, its better to see the difference as far as build goes.

I have never owned an Onkyo/Integra source before this one, but I am highly impressed whith the build and reaction time, as well as the transport.

The pictures look very interesting - I appreciate your honest thoughts regarding "build quality". I couldn't find the internal photo of the 3910 on the Crutchfield website so I've added the one I've been using for planning mods.

Photo Links: Onkyo Photos || Denon Photos (scroll to bottom)

I'd say you're correct in that the Onkyo seems like a much more advanced build from an engineering perspective to say the least. I've seen the wimpy 3910 power supply many times. Oddly enough, the weakness of the Denon 3910 (and 2900) power supply is actually the strength of the unit when it comes to modification. If you look inside a 3910, you'll see a TON of room for improvement.

The external appearance of the 3910 is embarrassing actually - but then again, to my eyes, the Onkyo/Integra isn't all that ravishing either. Neither would look good in my system.

But then again... who makes a nice looking Multi-Format Player??? GOLDMUND BABY!! Only fifty of these will be made - and the cost is just $75,000 bucks!

Ears I could'nt agree more.I own a 3900 and plan on sending it back for a 1000.I have been looking for a Integra dps10.5(nobody seems to have one in stock),are the 1000 and 10.5 similar units?What are the differences?