not reliable

I have dvd1 and the dvd10: both are out ofo order for feeding problems. My judgment is therefore much negative.

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philips dvd 752

regionfree, excellent picture quality

after a while it will start reading less and less DVD's. For some reason one will be read and the other one won't. (all disks are scratch fee so that is not it...)

Very nice player and regionfree, but trouble reading DVD's after a while. I've already been back with it five times and they say it needs cleaning each time! Anybody else with the same problem? I'm thinking about buying another brand because of this...HK won't do anything about it...

Utterly excellent picture quality and color accuracy

A bit noisy Not usable for CD playing

This DVD ended up being more expensive than I thought as it made me buy a big projector ! I have been quite unimpressed by many players but this one truly does it right. It does not have flashy colours that make people look like plastic, no, it all looks so very real and lifelike. RGB connection is a must. It had some reliability problems (power supply went down), was fixed by Harman quite fast. It is unusable as a CD player for the following reasons : - does not sound good on CDs (it is shrill and digital) - takes too long to read CD TOC - does not read CDRs However it is perfect for movies and it does what I bought it for perfectly ! What more could I ask ?

Picture & sound quality, elegant appearance, simplicity.

Noisy tray and lack of some controls on the front panel.

I am happy with this machine and I would recommend it to anyone looking for simplicity combined with very good quality regarding picture and sound. The video section is excellent whilst the audio section is excellent for movies, on the cd section only the dedicated more expensive players doing a better job, at least this is my opinion. The player has as well almost all the necessary connections we may expect for such a machine nowadays. The single complaint would be related to the noise of the tray during playback (this is audible in low volume passages only and if the machine is enough close to the listener) and maybe to the fact that some features can be controled only with the remote (in case remote is gone you may spend some more to replace it). Good idea with number PI helping to change the zone (free zone in this country is about additional USD 50-100).

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Have tested for short periods at home the Sony DVP 335 and Onkyo DVS 353 if I am correct.

Clean finish, superb pcm-audio playback, good picture quality, region changing without necessary modification

As with several other Brands, play´s no CD-r´s, should be able to play CD-RW though.

Pretty good overall feeling using the DVD1 with the AVR-7000. Hopefully Harman will make some positive changes in the near future to make the unit compatible with all sorts of musical formats such as CD-r and similar (normal formats) in my point of view.

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HK 690 + HD-720....Using AVR-7000 at the moment

good sound and picture

very noisy

I used this player for only one day because of it´s disturbing sound (very disturbing frequency of this noise).

To me it doesn´t make sense to have a player you can hear when there a quiet scenes in a film.

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Grundig Philips Pioneer sony

Sound, rc, look & feel, picture quality, multi-zone

No 24/96 at digital out, slight tray noise when playing movie

This DVD player is excellent in terms of its capabilities to play CD's. You can choose between MPEG, PCM and Dolby Digital. I use PCM. Picture quality is crisp. I use it in combination with a Loewe Planus TV and the picture is amazing. This is a 100Mhz television with great sound and vision. The DVD1 is a good match. I tested the sound quality first with my Theta DAC and compared it to the same combination with my HK 8300 CD Changer. The difference was interesting. Both sounded good, but the DVD player seemed a little more defined at first but after extensive A/B'ing I found that that turned into a slight harshness at the top-end. The CD player was more musical I think - difficult to explain. The difference was one of character, rather than quality and in my system the CD player performed better. But for a DVD player to be this close is very good indeed I guess.

The only drawback is that the DVD1 does not output a true 96khz signal at the digital out. It reduces that by half to 48khz. This means that when you want to use it to play DVD Video music CD's or DAD's you won't get the full benefit of a true 24/96 recording -obviously when used in combination with appropriate DAC's. As I am a two channel audio fan and I have a separate listening room, I need to buy another DVD player anyway - like a Pioneer which does have 24/96 at the digital out - because my television is in the living room. But at these prices it is not such a huge investment. Now to get the right DAC, that's another project....it never stops does it?

The remote is very cool - it has a light switch - though its lay out is somewhat 'fuzzy'. Buttons with similar functions are not always grouped together (such as Menu, Status, Return, Clear). And buttons you tend to use often are smaller than the buttons one tends to use less frequently in my opinion.

During playback I heard slight noises coming from the disc in the tray, but those were not enough to be annoying or intrusive for that matter.

The menu structure is very clear. The manual well written and illustrated. In a bow to the movie studio's and their laywers :-) they don't mention how to changes zones which I find a bit hypocritical. Anyway, it's mentioned in these reviews and you can find it elswhere on the web: when the player is in Stand By mode, with no disc in the tray, press 3141592 on the rc and than type in the zone (1-4). Works like a charm.

The SCART plug allows you to hook it up directly to your TV with one cable for video and sound. I have it hooked up indirectly via my digital cable box - according to instructions from my cable provider here in Paris (NOOS). You need to buy a SCART cable separately though as it's not included in the box.

My overall rating is 4 stars. The player has a high-end look to it. The price/performance is great, but I subtract a point for not having true 24/96 at the digital out, a fuzzy rc design and the slight noise. But overall Highly Recommended.

Surf the web for the best price though because at least in France HK allows their dealers to play around with the price. I found prices in the range from $300-$525. That is ridiculous!

Nice lay-out, not too much buttoms, not too big.

Not very known, so difficult to compare

I was looking for a Sony DVP-S7700, as being advised as the best in the market. However, I did not like the colour so the sales agent advised the H/K. I like the design of the H/K very much (important in our house), it is also small enough not to be dominant. The version I have is modified so I only need to type the region code before I press the on-button, easy! The sound is good (I have it linked directly to my TV, no DD amplifier), as far TV sound can be good. Quality of picture is as good as on my Sony 530, so I remain with the question whether paying double for the S7700 would really have made a justified difference. I am happy with the H/K, mainly because of it's design, it's price and it does everything I need very well. Good value for money.

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Sony 530

It's black. Dimmer button for display. Simple layout of buttons. Backlit remote. Crisp image.

manual change for region. will not play CD-R's

Only got this on the advice from a friend and have been happy with it ever since. Nice black finish with gold coloured tray. Very simple button layout with I like but some people prefer to have all the functions on the unit. I prefer the remote. On that area, the remote is not too large and easy to hold. The buttons can be lit up which makes it easy to use in the black, but the buttons are shaped so you can feel which is which anyway.
My only gripe is the manual change for the region. Turn off player type 3141592 then the region number and then turn on. A bit of a hassle but not enough to make me return it.

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Pioneer 525 Modded

Great picture. Like no other DVD that I have tested

None. I did not quite like the look

I compared it to about 7 other similar products from Sony to Nakamichi, Toshiba, phillips...

I only knew of excellent sound this brand used to deliver, but when I was looking for a DVD player I could never imagine I would end up buying this one.

My first intention was to buy a slim cased new Sony DVD player, but I got so impressed with the HK-1 picture... Lines where neat and clear. Contrast was amazing. Black excellent. Colors very natural.

Not zoom and that kind of gadgets that one may use once or twice in 5 years... HK-1 is very simple. Just the basic things, but really mastered. Great value.