Denon DVD A1XVA

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I am preparing to rob my own bank account and get one of these. Presumably I'll still need a receiver/amp to run speakers from it? What would you recommend that is in keeping with the player? I just want 5.1 and great sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Never thought I'd be saying this, Jimmy, because I'm a fan of the A1XVA (we used to use one as a reference deck, you might recall) - but I'm not sure I'd be buying one in the current climate. Depends on the deal you're getting, of course, and there's no disputing that it's still a great DVD player, but even so: while upscaled DVD can be persuaded to look very good indeed, as we demonstrated ourselves at our recent show, it's still a way off the best efforts of the best Blu-ray kit. Don't forget, incidentally, that Denon is about to launch its own high-end Blu-ray deck, the DVD-3800BD, which we'll be testing as soon as we can - it could turn out to be a better way to spend your cash.

Of course, you could have your heart set on the old A1XVA. If that's the case, please do bear in mind you'll need a very good display to justify it. Using the Denon via Scart with an old 32in TV is a complete waste of time and money. I'd suggest a 50in plasma from Pioneer as a minimum, and better, a projector. So that's around £2000 - £4000 to find (and the Denon is right at home with projectors costing much more, too).

As for receivers and speakers -ÿwell, it's hard to give hard and fast guidelines without some idea of your room size and preferences, but as a rough guess.at the very least, a Denon AVR-3808 receiver (£1200ish), which has a Denon Link input to accept high-quality audio direct from the DVD-A1XVA's corresponding output. Better still, an AVR-4308 (£2000) or one of the same company's AVC-series beasts (new models are on the way, while kit like the existing AVC-A11XVA will cost you around £2000).

You aren't obliged to use Denon stuff to partner the Denon DVD player, of course. But high-end receivers and amplifiers of suitable capability to partner a DVD player costing £2000 or more are rare, and Denon kit happens to fit the bill well (and by the way, in our view, you should spend more on your receiver than on your disc player).

And of course, we've still to budget for speakers. Suitable kit starts at £2000 or so for the Dali Ikon 6 5.1 package (if you're chasing optimum sound quality) or Tannoy's Arena HighLine 500 (if you want decent sound with a modicum of style). However, we shouldn't really start fixing speaker systems until we've nailed your room size, like I said.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the swift reply Andy. Space is a bit tight, I guess its only 5 x 5 metres so that rules out a huge 60"+ plasma. Though I hope to be moving somewhere with more space in the near future. I ought to be able to squeeze in a 42-46" screen. And get a good projector further down the line. I know the A1XVA is probably huge overkill but I have an insane amount of DVDs. Many of which simply don't exist on HD discs. Those 2 Denon receivers look good but what about high end Onkyo receivers? Like the TX-NR905 or TX-SR875?

 

[Anonymous]

The Onkyo receivers are excellent: in pure sound quality terms, and especially when value is factored in, they're probably better buys that most alternatives. I only highlighted the Denon options in my earlier post because like the DVD-A1XVA, they include the all-digital Denon Link system, which can be used to send both movie sound and music signals. Denon Link is a high-capacity digital connector (proprietary to Denon, as the name suggests) that, unlike optical or coaxial digital cables, allows for high-quality transfer of DVD-Audio and (in the latest iterations of the system) SACD signals. However, if you're looking to deal mainly with movie audio, you could well find that the standard coaxial or optical digital connections also present on the DVD-A1XVA will be perfectly adequate, and if that's the case, the Onkyo receivers should definitely be auditioned.

As to screens: if you've an insane amount of DVDs, and really, really want to maximise your image quality, I'd suggest you consider Pioneer's glorious PDP-LX508D plasma. It's a 50in model, it's quite expensive (expect to pay around £3200). I really can't think of a better TV at any price. And if that means trimming your budget elsewhere, or putting off a projector purchase until much later, then I reckon it's worth the sacrifice.

Speakers? Within a 5m x 5m room, and given your need for something space-efficient, I'd suggest you consider the Tannoy package. It's very room-friendly, and its coherent, smooth yet muscular sound would complement either Onkyo receiver well.

 

[Anonymous]

Seems like I won't be getting the A1X any time soon. Spoke to Denon
and officially the model is discontinued so no dealer can order me one
anyway. And no one seems to have it in stock or if they do are refusing
to go a penny under £2700... Though Denon did confirm that their new
Blu-Ray player will replace the A1X at about £2000 in six months time.

Decided to go for the Dali Ikon 6 package and the Pioneer PDP LX508D though.