Price Paid:  $359.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
At the time of purchase I could not find another progressive scan DVD player anywhere in my town, (Columbus, Oh). Crutchfield had Denon listed in their catalog, but didn't have any in stock. So I bought this one until something else came out. But so far I have not found any reason to replace it. The performance is top notch as far as I can tell. I have it hooked up to a Mitsubishi 65" wide screen HDTV with Ixos Gold Series component video cables ($300), I was using cheaper cables at first (AR) and noticed a huge difference with these, those 65 inches will reveal a lot of flaws. The audio performance is impressive also. I am using a Legacy pre/pro, 6 Soundstream DA-2 amps, and Def-Tec speakers, and all Ixos cables and wiring. The JVC is the cheapest / weakest link in the chain, and so far has no problems keeping up. However, I have had several glitches that show up from time to time. Like no sound, or no video, but turning the unit off and back on usually snaps it back. Did have a disc get stuck and had to take the top off to remove it. I doubt you can beat this product for the price.

Strengths:
Audio and video performance. 7 disk changer with the abillity to change disks while one remains playing, that is an awsome feature, wouldn't be able to live with out it. Tons of features and out puts.

Weaknesses:
Build quality and reliability, slow disk change time, noisy when changing.

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Denon

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
First, the good points: the audio and video qualities of this player are outstanding. Wonderful, full, clear, deep sound on my system with B&W 801 III speakers. DVD video quality is among the best that I've seen. And while I really wanted to like this player, there were too many usability problems that I couldn't live with and sent it back. To begin, the front of unit has a very prominent blinking orange LED to indicate which of the 7 discs is playing. I could not find a way to defeat this. This is unacceptable on a video product (which is often placed adjacent to the TV). Arggghh.. The display showing elapsed time was very dim and impossible to see from a distance. As far as I could tell, the only time it would offer is the elapsed time of the track: no option to see remaining time, or total time of the disc. Many of the features (like random play) require several selections on the TV screen (arrggghgh). Not even a dedicated button for random. No disc memory feature. So once you decide that you want to finish watching the DVD another time, you need to write down it's time and search for it manually the next time - unacceptable. Oh well JVC, try again...

Strengths:
Audio, video quality

Weaknesses:
Terrible usability design.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer DV-414, DV-503C

Price Paid:  $329.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
Great Product! Buyer Beware! I bought this because I wanted progressive scan with DVD-Audio ( Don't ask about DVD-Audio at Circuit City, they think it is Dolby Digital! ) and I got it. Problem is that this unit broke after 3 months of use. I returned it and had the local JVC authorized repaor guy take 2 months tring to fix it. He could not diagnos the problem and everything that he got from JVC seemed to be defective. Finally the unit went to JVC Service in Jersey. By this time I had been without it for 3 months. No one ever contacted me and when I contacted them they treated me like I was a pain in the ass. I complianed to the Better Business Bureau and I got the deck back in two days. JVC did not make me feel comfortable with them and they did not seem to care. I will not buy another JVC product. Also the deck makes funny grinding sounds now when it opens and closes. The audio video quality is good if you are willing to take a chance.

Strengths:
Good audio video quality

Weaknesses:
JVC!

Similar Products Used:
Sony DVP-C650

Price Paid:  $280.00 from internet

Summary:
Over all a good and solid player. Wanted to have a dvd player but as I do not have enogh space to waste in my rack and do not intend to start running around video rentals (have three small children who take almost all the time anyway), I''ll mostly use it for music and only occasionally for dvds. So that''s the reason I wanted it to be a replacement for my cd player and have five disc capability (and it has seven). Unfortunately my JVC receiver remote does not change the discs on this player. So the only reason in the whole system I have to use a second remote is to change between discs. That''s a bit of an annoyance. Picture and sound are excellent but for one detail - when connecting with component video connection the picture is very different from composite video or S-video connections (color seems to be out of balance and much too green). I know that component video is supposed to be the best possible connection but in my case it seems to me that the other connections actually give a more realistic palette of color. Anyone ever seen or heard a similar problem?

Strengths:
7 discs, easy to operate, good picture and sound, so far relyable

Weaknesses:
When connecting with component video connection the color seems to be out of balance - too much green?!

Price Paid:  $280.00 from internet

Summary:
Unbelievable dvd player for the price. I have used the player on both a regular tv and on my new big screen hdtv. To really appreciate the value of this dvd player you must have an hdtv. The progressive scan feature (which can only be used with hdtv) provides a distinct picture quality increase. The clarity and sharpness really takes dvd quality to a new level. This player retailed for $500 but you should be able to find it on the internet for around $300 shipped. I have viewed players twice and three three times as expensive and they simply won''t out perform this player. One note, before spending $300 or more on a dvd player like this make sure you plan to use all the features. If you simply want to play dvds on your present standard tv and tv speakers save a couple hundred bucks and get a cheaper player (you won''t notice any differnce without more expensive components). If you have a home theater receiver, separate speakers and have or plan to upgrade to hdtv you will notice a big difference compared to a cheap player. This is the best value you will find! My theater: TV: 51" Panasonic HDTV PT-51HX41 Receiver: Yamaha HTR-5250 Main Speakers: Infinity SM-215 Sub: Infinity BU-150 (15" downfiring) Center: Polk 245i Rear: Sony surround spkrs DVD: JVC XV-FA90 CD: Sony ES CDP-CA70ES 5 disc changer

Strengths:
Has all the latest audio and video features for all you audiophiles like myself: Compatible with DVD Video, CD CD-R/RW and Video CD, High-bit/high-sampling (10-bit/54MHz video D/A converter Component Video, Composite Video, and S-Video terminals, 1-bit PEM DD Audio Converter Compatible with 192kHz/24-bit and 96kHz/24-bit DVD Audio Progressive Scan Output, "Digital Direct" that can produce the video output at twice the conventional speed to allow the direct conversion of DVD''s 24fps into progressive 60fps for display on your TV Price, 7 disc, built-in Dolby Digital/DTS decoding with 5.1-channel output.

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer 3 disc dvd changer