Acram DV135 or Panasonic DMP-BD55 or ????????

[Gary233932]

Hi All

Just got a Arcam DV135 and is did not work with my Onkyo 875, The deals has loaned me there DV135 witch dose work for know, but has given me the option of changing my order to something else in got the Acram because I wanted good a CD player and a good basic DVD (Onkyo 875 to do the scaling) but am starting to think I would be better with a Blu-ray player but only if it good with CD's baring in mind the rest of my system any advise

PS I will be demoing the DV135 all weekend with CD's and DVD's against my old DVD player (tosh 370) and my CD player (Denon Mini System with a digital out)

Thanks

Gary

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Gary233932:Hi All

Just got a Arcam DV135 and is did not work with my Onkyo 875, The deals has loaned me there DV135 witch dose work for know, but has given me the option of changing my order to something else in got the Acram because I wanted good a CD player and a good basic DVD (Onkyo 875 to do the scaling) but am starting to think I would be better with a Blu-ray player but only if it good with CD's baring in mind the rest of my system any advise

PS I will be demoing the DV135 all weekend with CD's and DVD's against my old DVD player (tosh 370) and my CD player (Denon Mini System with a digital out)

Thanks

Gary

The bluray player will be left standing with cd playback against the Arcam. You are better off getting the bluray player and adding an external DAC (Beresford or DacMagic £120, £200 respectively) and you will get better dvd playback and much better cd playback than the Arcam.

 

[Gary233932]

Thanks but which Player

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Gary233932:Thanks but which Player

As you have a Pana screen, go for the Pana BD55.

 

[Anonymous]

The Arcam will destroy the Blu-Ray player for both CD playback and DVD playback. Unless you buy something like the Denon 2500BT transport - even then I'd be surprised if it could beat the Arcam at CD playing.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

runcible:The Arcam will destroy the Blu-Ray player for both CD playback and DVD playback. Unless you buy something like the Denon 2500BT transport - even then I'd be surprised if it could beat the Arcam at CD playing.

I disagree. The Diva 135 is a mid level upscaler from Arcam. It's not one of the FMJ models. The new Bluray players upscale well. As for cd playback, I agree if you are not adding anything to the BD player. I was suggesting a DAC to go with it. I use the DacMagic from Cambridge Audio and I have a Sony BD player as transport. This would most definitely sound better than the Arcam dvd player on its own.

 

[Gary233932]

As far as I am aware my Onkyo 875 will scale the picture better than the Acram DV135 so was going to use it for the scalling, and I thing the Denon 2500T is out of my budget

Thanks

Gary

 

[Gary233932]

bump

 

[Gary233932]

Just playing with the DV135. Music is way better than the Denon UD-M31 (using the Toslink output). For DVD's the picture does not seem any better resolution or quality wise, however the colours and vertical scrolling are way better, and the sound is staggeringly better than the Tosh 370 I was using (please note the scaling is being done at my amp).

Thanks

Gary

 

[Gary233932]

Any one else have any comments

 

[if...]

Hi Gary m- really interested in your post as I have just purchased the DV135 and have connected it to my Onkyo 875 via HDMI. I have tried every setting under the sun between the two components but all I get is a pink (sometimes blue) screen. What settings have you used?

Thanks

 

[Gary233932]

Hi if

I tuck my 875 with me when I returned the DV135, and tried there demo model this worked fine, I suspected one for the two resent firmware updates caused the problem and the dealer agreed. but am not certain as firmware information is limited. At present I am using the dealers demo DV135 until they sort it out with Arcam. I will keep updating the post as I know more

PS what made you buy the DV135 over a Blu-ray player as I am know re-thinking the decision to buy the DV135 as some people the you can get better result with a Bly-ray player and a DAC

PPS the Arcam sounds better with CD using an Analog Cable to your amp, I got the QED Qunex 3 Audio Interconnect down from £50 to £20 sounds great to me

Thanks

Gary

 

[if...]

Hi Gary

I got the DV135 mainly for stereo and SACD / DVD Audio work - I have compared for CD replay to my Toshiba XE1 connected to a Cambridge Audio DAC and have to say that the Arcam sounds better (to my ears) - less "muddy".

Could you let me know the settings you are using between 135 and 875 so I can try them? My Onkyo has not had the firmware upgrade to sort out the "popping" problem. I have the firmware disc (but cannot find any CD / DVD player that will play it!) When I do update might this sort out the pink screen problem?

Cheers

 

[Gary233932]

Hi If

The settings are below, but the loan DV135 works on all the settings I've tried, the firmware problem relates to the Arcam not the Onkyo, if I knew how to get the firmware version of the loan unit I would list that but I dont............

Video

Main Video Output : HDMI
Display Standard : PAL
Display Shape : 16:9 Widescreen
HDMI Resolution : Auto
HDMI Colour Space : Auto
Analogue Resolution : CD Progressive (Greyed Out)
Analogue NTSC Black : 0 IRE
Cadence over-ride : Auto

Audio

Digital Audio Output : HDMI
DVD Sample Rate : Max 96kHz
VCD Mode : Stereo

Thanks

Gary

 

[Dazmb]

I have similar questions Gary. And i'm not totally convinced that adding a DAC to a cheap BR transport will outgun something as highly praised and design focused for audio as an Arcam DVD deck is. Having said that I understand Arcam use some Sony components in their players like the draw mechanism and disc motor. So who knows?

One way to find out would be to trial the Beresford DAC which can be returned for money back if not convinced.

But I may just wait until Cambridge Audio and Arcam release their BR players before parting with any cash...

 

[Gary233932]

The Arcam sounds great both from DVD and CD, but still not sure weather a blu-ray player with a external DAC would be as good, with the bonus of blu-ray. Gary

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Gary233932:The Arcam sounds great both from DVD and CD, but still not sure weather a blu-ray player with a external DAC would be as good, with the bonus of blu-ray. Gary

I've just realised that you are using an 875 as your cd amplification. This might alter the results. I can hand on heart tell you that the DacMagic, with Sony BD player as transport is better than the Arcam dvd player that I used to have. This Arcam (FMJ DV27A) was a couple of models up from the DV135. However, I use a very good stereo amp which is connected to the Dac with very good XLR (balanced) cables. This will make a huge difference too from using an Onk 875.

 

[Gary233932]

Thanks Gerrardasnails I was planning to upgrade the front channels with a Arcam P90 in the future, using the pre-outs on my 875 but this may be scuped as my girl friend is box counting.......thanks gary