Denon 3910 Universal Player - Opinions?

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?

Kman,
The Onkyo sp 1000 and Integra dps 10.5 seem to be the same player except the 10.5 outputs upconverted video from composite and s video external source, has bnc component, and a 3 year warranty for 500.00 more.

If you go to the Integra site, you will see that the internals and case look exactly the same except for the name Integra on the face and torridal transformer.

It is the sp 1000 that is coming up roses against the 5900,3910,Pioneer 59avi and Marantz 9500 in those german and French reveiws.
Apparently, the 1000 sells for around 5k anywhere over seas, were the Denon,Pioneer and Marantz sell for about the same as the U.S.

The sp 1000 has external upconversion and bnc connectors on all models except the U.S. and Canadien models.

Bwhite, the Goldman is beautious or something, but a bit out of my price range.
I could afford maybe a Estoric dv-50, but the video is supposedly not up to par whith the Onkyo or top Denons ect,so I will go the mod route instead.

The Onkyo pictures don't really do it justice as it has a curved front, a sweet door that silently pops up over the tray when closed, hex head bolts instead of screws on the case, and the top half of that remote is aluminum instead of plastic.
The 2 channel analog outs are machined instead of your common gold plated rca outs.

It is definitly no Goldman, but has quite a few nice touches for its price.

The damm backlight on the 3910's remote is on the top whith all the other buttons instead of on the side were it should be.
My video upconversion button on the 3910 has already quit working and I now have to get up if I want to change that.

One thing I forgot to mention is the 1000's pace and timing are better also.
At least that is what my new fangled foot tapping meter reads.

I must of seen the 3910 interior pics at AVS and not at Crutchfield....sorry about that.

If I was to mod one of these players myself, it would be the 3910, but I will end up paying crazy money to someone else and go whith the sp 1000.

Greg