Capacity, great picture, Faroudja film processing

Plays a DVD upon power up, slow reading

Since the advent of DVD changers, I knew it was only a matter of time until a unit was introduced with Progressive Scan capabilities. This is a big, deep [22"] monster which houses 400 plus 3 slots and can play DVDs, DVD-Audios, CDs, and CD-Rs. It even plays DVD-Rs as well. The additional 3 slots are handy for rentals that aren't part of a collection. The slots have an eject feature too. It is not a lightweight, flimsy item even when empty. Build quality is sufficient. I know some buyers will find the size a bit much but what can one expect when it holds 403 discs. Some people will probably complain that it takes awhile to read, or change the discs, but again that is due to the sheer size of this model. It is also written that two more can be daisy-chained for a total of 1,209 discs. Surely there's someone out there who would go about doing that.

Regarding the picture, it is stellar to say the least. The Progressive mode is quite clean running through my Mitsubishi HDTV 55" widescreen. It made my old JVC and Toshiba progressives less vibrant in comparison. There is absolutely no artifacting or chroma problems. There is also an optional Faroudja video adjuster which can be tweaked to one's tastes. All in all, it's a satisfying video experience. If a consumer needs further review on these features, they can read the write-up on the 5 CD changer version, the DV-5700M. The review raves about the picture quality. On the audio side, it plays DVD-Audio with really good clarity but I attribute it more to the Denon VR-5800 it's hooked up to and the Digital Pro Audio speakers I'm running.

It does have one annoying function that it plays a DVD upon power up. I really do not know if that is something that can be remedied but it's really minor at this point. Another function it was doing was playing any DVD's English subtitles, at first. That was fixed easily through the set-up. I do feel the price is somewhat high. I wish the Kenwood [or all other manufacturers for that matter] would not supply the Dolby Digital and DTS decoders since a majority of home theatre enthusiasts run the digital signal to their receivers anyway. Also the such decoders aren't as efficient to boot.

Would I recommend this model to anyone? I'd say a resounding YES. Actually, I'd reckon Kenwood would come up with a single disc player that has the same features since not too many people probably own at least 400 movies, CDs or a combination of both. If they did, it would certainly sell very, very, well. I am giving it a 4 overall since the price plus the unnecessary decoders would make it more of a luxury purchase and does not cater to the regular consumer.

Similar Products Used:

JVC XV-723, Toshiba 6200