Replacement DVD Drive or HD DVD?

[admin_exported]

I have recently replaced my 10 year old Yamaha DSP AMP and speakers for a new Onkyo 605 and Kef 3005SE.

I have been waiting for the battle between HD DVD and Blueray to end before replacing my DVD player. This is a 10 year old Yamaha DVD-S700 which has served me well, but I am guessing is now holding back my system.

My TV is a 36" Sony CRT which I also intend to replace within 12 months but as I currently have no HD source don't see the point in replacing just yet as I am more than happy with the current pictures using DVD and Freeview.

So I am thinking of purchasing myself a cheapish DVD player, say the Samsung DVD-HD870 at around £50 now or even a Toshiba DVD for around £30 and then replace this when the HD DVD battle is over and HDMI 1.3 audio connection is widely available. But, will this give me a huge leap forward in picture and sound quality over my 10 year old Yamaha or should I be investing more, even if I only plan to only use this player short term?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Andy Clough]

To be honest, there'd be little benefit in changing your Yamaha for a newer budget player. The Yamaha was very good in its day, and as you're still using a CRT TV, then video upscaling and HDMI connectivity won't be of any benefit to you at this stage.

I'd stick with the Yamaha for now, and maybe upgrade at a later stage if/when you decide to change the Sony TV. Sadly, there's little end in sight as far as the Blu-ray/HD DVD battle is concerned, so you may be in for a long wait!

If you do change your screen in 12 months, then I'd look at the likes of the Marantz DV7001 DVD player (£600) which is capable of superb sound and vision with conventional DVDs, and can upscale them to 1080p.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your feedback.

You do suprise me as I would have thought technology would have moved on greatly over the 10 year period!

One of the reason's I was thinking the DVD was holding me back was the little difference I noticed from upgrading my AMP and speakers to the Onkyo and the Kef3005se!

I am still using analogue connections from the DVD to the Onkyo as on my previous amp had no digital inputs so I guess this may make a difference?

Also bearing in mind the new AMP and Speakers, what sort of speaker cables do you recommend, as the setup is only as good as the weakest component? Don't want to go over board on these but don't want to restrict the system by purchasing cheap ones!

Thanks for your help.

Rod