Marantz DV8300 DVD Players

Marantz DV8300 DVD Players 

DESCRIPTION

DVD-A or SACD, that’s the question? With the NEW Marantz DV8300 Universal Audio/Video Player, you won’t have to answer that question - this "Jack Of All Trades" plays them all! DVD-Audio, SACD, both two/multi-channel, MP3, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, Video CD and of course DVD-Video. The DV8300 is designed not only to play them, but to deliver the decoded audio and video as close to the original signal as possible. With 108 MHz, 12-bit video DACs and 4:4:4 upsampling of the video signal, all of your audio video needs are realized.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-7 of 7  
[Jun 01, 2004]
amperidian
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

sound video looks size better than its Sony/Denon/Pioneer Elite counterparts

Weakness:

layer change could be a little faster but I'm not very picky with stuff like that

An excellent product overall. Image quality is as good as your cables can pass through. Component cables are highly recommended, I realized this when I watched Finding Nemo ... the light rays are clearly visible in the water. Plus you can finetune your image to your taste using all the adjustments in the menu. Sound, also very good so far. I've only used the optical path so far and it closely rivals (but does not match) my cd player's analog (weird huh?), yeah, and I'm not using a crappy Cd player either. This DVD/SACD player is damn good if I may be allowed. I'm getting analog interconnects for the SACD outputs soon, so my sound quality will get even better (for DTS/Dolby Digital as well as SACD). I have not experienced the centre channel bug with my unit. For pure audio pleasure, this unit also has a "video circuits off" option as well as a "display dimmer/off" option. Build quality is reasonable for its price range. Looks slick, is not bulky like other products in its price range (Sony, Denon) and performs very well in comparison with these competitors. I won't replace it until it breaks down. My system: Marantz DV 8300 Audio Refinement Complete alpha CD player Denon avr4802r A/V receiver Mordaunt Short (MS) 914's front MS 903's surround MS 905 centre surround MS 504 centre Monster Sigma Retro Gold speaker cables Audioquest Coral Cd player interconnects (will upgrade to Sigma's here too) Audioquest NRG2 powerbars to Cd and DVD players Monster HTS 2000 mkII power manager

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic F65, Sony NS9000ES, Denon 2900

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 11, 2003]
mikeacarroll
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Build quality, ease of set up and use, OSM is very navigable, sound stage is wonderful, music sings SACD/DVD-A playback is superb, regular cd's sound better but bad recordings will be exposed.

Weakness:

That intermittent center channel bug.

This unit is wonderful but I did find the center channel bug tonight watching the 1951 monaural movie, Scrooge. The sound just died. But thanks to the reviews I read here, I pressed pause and play and everything was fine. I wonder what they can do to fix that since it's intermittent? Otherwise the sound is amazingly clear, sweet, musical. Less 'out in front' than the Sony SACD that I'm using as a 5 disc cd changer now. I found none of the listener fatigue I found with the Sony. The Marantz sings the Sony belts if that metaphor works.

Similar Products Used:

Sony SACD ES222; Kenwood Sovereign 5700;

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 04, 2003]
slvrado
AudioPhile

Strength:

Supberb video and SACD

Weakness:

center channel problem

I recently bought a Marantz DV8400. Overal it is a superb unit and absolutle amazing on SACD especially. It also has a suprisingly superb video section even on S-video only! The video quality is noticeably better than my Pioneer Elite DV38A! However I do have one problem. About 30% of the time while watching movies (DD 5.1 or DTS) my center channel drops out, ie. no sound. I simply hit pause then paly and the problem clears. Anyone else out there have this problem?

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer Elite DV38A

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Sep 17, 2003]
Robin
AudioPhile

Strength:

-refined sound quality in dts, sacd (it's price range) -smooth and crisp picture quality -fast loading and track

Weakness:

DD format sound slightly lay-back sound for movie

It all started when I rented "The Bridge Too Far" DVD and it start to freeze up on my Denon 1100 every 40 sec. Error disk reading seems to be a problem occasionally. The Denon is a great unit but it seems to be wearing out after 2 years. After thorough research for a multi-format player with audio performance as priority 2nd reliability, 3rd picture performance: including Sony 999, Integra 8.3, Pioneer DV47, Denon 2900, have decided on the Marantz 8400. My initial impression when first watching a DD movie was, hmm pretty good picture, better than my Denon but the sound was horrible. Definitly shouldn''t be for a $1000 DVP. There sound were more details but muffed like a blanket was covering my spk. I almost cry and want to sell it right away. Then I remember reading reviewers comment about breakin for at least 100-300 hrs. I was skepical as my Musical Fidelity CDP didn't sound this unbarable when new. After about 80 hrs of continue play, it actually improve consideribly and about equal my Denon 1100 in DD sound quality. I then try a dts DVD and oh my goodness, something wonderful has happened. I came to relized this player is strong at dts as well as SACD. I've forgoten about dts as I've been watching DVDs using DD because I used to connect my old Denon analog out to my Symphonic Line pre/pow F Spk and digital to my NAD A/V rec for Ctr, R Sur & Sub. I highly recommend this setup if you have a seperate pre/pow for CD listening as it will make a huge improvement if you're using a mid-fi a/v receiver. Anyhow, my Denon didn't have a built-in decoder so I was limited to DD 5.1 when watching move with this setup. Now that my Marantz do, I can use the same setup when watching dts format, awesome! Couldn't wait when it's 300 hrs fully run-in sounds like.

Similar Products Used:

Denon 1100, Sony NS930, Sony NS999, Onkyo

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jul 05, 2003]
stereo nut
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Superb picture quality.

Weakness:

Marantz still won't program anyone else's codes into their remotes.

Bought this player in Dec of '02 to upgrade from my Marantz DV4000, Mainly to get component video out. DV4000 is an excellent player, but this one tops it hands down. The component video is just clearly superior in depth, clarity, and noise level. And the tray is really fast! Am going directly into the component inputs of Pioneer Elite Pro-520. Very happy with it. Have played few cd's on it as I am still using my Carver DTL-450 for that, but they sounded great. I do not have any SACD disc's yet, but since I just heard that Norah Jones has released one, that will soon change.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz DV4000

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 12, 2003]
Brodie Wolstenholme
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great detailed sound that makes even regular CDs come alive

Well I did wait for the DV-8400. Was the wait worth it - I'll never know as I never managed to take delivery of the 8300. Bought through a Marantz dealer, the 8400 is very easy to set up and hook up. You can wade through the user guide in under half an hour. But a word of caution. At the time of writing my player still has the DVI-D socket covered with the factory installed "Upgrade" plate, and we'll have to wait for the lawyers to sort the copyright mess out. In short, composite video, S-video and component video work but not DVI-D. Funny, my Samsung SIR TS160 doesn't have the same problem. Its DVI-D output isn't hobbled. Isn't trying to capture a hi-res bit stream going to be a lot harder than going after the data straight from a DVD? Ok what's it really like? For me taking the analog audio feed gives a much more spacious and open sound than the Toslink digital feed. Sampling regular CDs both old and new reveals new detail that makes me go WOW how come I've missed that for all these years. But beware, the DV 8400 won't hide bad editing or mastering of the source material. The original Riverdance CD came both alive and "what on earth was that?" all at the same time. Likewise the picture quality out of the box is FAB. So far it's played everything that I've put in it. Navigation round DVD menus is fast, the remote works well although getting the slow motion worked out means turning on the lights to see which button to press. Over all very pleased with the machine.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 29, 2003]
anwill
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Juicy, clear, tight sound. Wonderful DVD picture as well. Beautiful Machine and very weighty. Plays all disc formats and easy to switch between them.

Weakness:

Ugly remote. Price is a bit high. No bass management for Sacd or DVD-audio although I didn't feel the need for it. No digital connection yet for the last to formats-coming to the DV8400.

I am slowly upgrading my system. I started by trying to upgrade my speakers but when I heard news of this new do it all machine I had to try it. I bought it from a local store and played it for a week and immediately heard a huge difference in the CD playback. I must admit my previous two players was a Sony Cd Recorder and the Sony DVP-NS 4000. The sound was immediately more focused. Bass was tightened and no longer boomy. I listened to discs of Miles Davis and his muted trumpet sound was so tight and poignant. Simply put, I was hearing details that I didn't hear before and my whole system just sounds so much better. As for DVD-Audio and Sacd playback, I am still undecided. The sound is much more airy and natural but I wish there was a bit more grit. I only have a few discs so far so I will wait to really decide. Unfortunately, I didn't want to wait for the DV8400 and I got a really good deal at the online store although I must say they have horrible service and took more than a month. They have also raised the price by more than 100 dollars. The 8400 will have the digital output and DVI so that you don't have to hook it up through the 5.1 analog lines. Just a great, beautiful and heavy machine with tons of features. I almost forgot, DVD playback is excellent as well with tons of video adjustments available but I only really care about audio. System- Rotel-RSX-972 B&W 602, Center, and 600 rear. Sony VCR Marantz DV8300 Denon Tape Deck Samsung 32inch HDTV 3294

Similar Products Used:

Rotel Cd players, Sony Ex999, Pioneer dv47ai

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
Showing 1-7 of 7  

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