O'Shag

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.33 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00 from Private Sale

Summary:
An absolutely excellent all-rounder. DVD player; very filmlike image. Easy to look at for extended periods. Colours are very natural and rich. Downside is that there is no progressive. I'm fortunate in this respect because my Yamaha RX-Z9 processor has a farouda chip that allows the Denon to display progressive scan at 480p. I also own a Sony DVP-NS9000ES, another cracking DVD/SACD player (probably their best). While the Sony has stunningly good progressive scan capabilities that result in tremendous detail, in addition to very rich colours, the Denon's picture is slightly more natural. As an example, I would prefer to watch my DVD collection of All Creatures Great and Small on the Denon. This non-film material is better served by the Denon, which can render more natural images (IMHO). However, if I want to watch The Matrix or some other SC-FI movie incorporating highly detailed and complex images, the Sony is a more capable player. CD/HDCD: As a CD player, the Denon is very capable indeed, and in some respects extremely good. It has a rather laid back, smooth sound that still retains a good amount of detail. It may well be considered too polite by some who prefer a more dynamic presentation in the upper registers. Bass performance is stunningly good and this surely is the area where it shines. There is a power,warmth and accuracy of bass presentation rarely found in other players of this calibre, and I have several players with which to compare. An interesting point of comparison to my dedicated tube CD player, when listening to CD on the Denon, performers are set further back in the soundstage, with main voices sounding slightly subdued a far away. This is the one area where the Denon may lack for those who like a lively dynamic presentation in the upper midrange. The Denon doesn;t quite have the sparkle of a good dedicated CD player. Nevertheless it is very good considering that it is a universal player. For HDCD it is an excellent player and the aformentioned upper-midrange shyness is far less evident. For DTS surround music, it is a better performer on the whole than the Sony. The Sony has a tad more detail, but the Denons immmense bass performance, warmth and richness werve extremely well for this format. Worth mentioning also is the immensely high build quality of this unit. It weighs almost 40lbs! It has an all copper chassis. The discrete componentry layout means that for audio performance, video circuitry interference is at a minimum. Unlike some of the reviewers here that seem to have been beset by problems, I have experienced none. This beautiful component is very easy to live with. All in all I find it very easy to give the Denon DVD-5000 a very strong recommendation

Strengths:
DVD: Very natural picture. Rich colour, but always natural. CD: Excellent performer, bass performance is superb. HDCD: Again excellent. You'd be hardpressed to get better HDCD performance than this unless you were prepared to spend a lot more money. DTS: Again Excellent, with the Denon's superb bass capabilities serving well for this music format

Weaknesses:
DVD: Doesn't quite have the level of detail as the Sony DVp-NS9000ES. The richness of colour is good, but not as good as the Sony e.g. Red on the Sony is more brilliant. CD: A bit too smooth and polite for some music and tastes. Upper mids are a little vague and recessed. Still a very good performer though.

Similar Products Used:
Carver SDA/390t (tube CD player). Sony DVP-NS9000ES, Philips DVD-963SA, Sonic Frontiers SFD-1 MKII DAC

Price Paid:  $2500.00

Summary:
Excellent DVD player when it works. Build quality is obviously not good as it should be expected that a player in this price range should work more than a year. At the end it refused to accept DVDs and it was only possible to use it as a CD player. It is also impossible to get it repaired. I have had it at the service center for 6 months and it seems to be impossible to get spare parts.

Strengths:
Sound and picture when it works.

Weaknesses:
DENON service is completly crap.

Price Paid:  $2500.00

Summary:
This is one of the greatest sounding dvd players on the market, warm full detailed music, I have this unit hooked up with 5800 denon mission 780''s mission 78 center mission 78 bipolars paradym pw2200 sub it sounds fabulous, the picture is good too, highly recommended quality product even though it may seem expensive next to the majority of toshiba, sony, etc . The denon 5000 is in a different league.

Strengths:
Beautiful Sound,

Weaknesses:
Does not play cd-rw, you hear relays switching when volume is very low

Similar Products Used:
toshiba sd4700

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
unit broke down numourous times, laser unit.

Strengths:
nice pic. if it works.

Weaknesses:
relablity

Similar Products Used:
sony 9000 current and other sony dvd players

Price Paid:  $850.00 from 2-hand

Summary:
I uesed as a CD player rather than a DVD player.
(Honestly speaking, nowadays 300-500 bucks can buy a excellent DVD player with excellent picture.
However, as a autophile, it is quiet hard to find a
CD player as SACD launched.)

DV 5000 is very popular in HK in 2000 and 2001. Most
Local HiFi magazines rated it as the best CD player below
20 K HKD. Before I bought it home , I really dont belive
that such a DVD palyer can sound much better than a
CD player (cost 10 K HKD).


I am sure that DV 5000 sound better than Arcam 92 , FMJ23
in playing CD.

good sound stage, dynamics
both high and bass are detial and extended.
24 bit with upsamping
HDCD decoding
accept extenal digital source to use as stand alone DAC

Strengths:
excelent CD player, DVD a bonus

Weaknesses:
too heavy 16.5 KG??

Similar Products Used:
S10 III,