News

For quite a while now, Pioneer and Marantz have stuck their necks out with the few universal SACD/DVD-A/DVD/CD players available. Not any longer, as Onkyo, Teac and Yamaha join the club with new machines, aimed at consumers hedging their bets as to who will win the high-rez format wars.

Last week Onkyo officially announced the introduction of the DV-SP800 universal player, which decodes SACD, DVD-Audio discs, and MP3 CDs in addition to conventional DVDs and CDs. The company says the progressive-scan DV-SP800 is the company's top-of-the-line DVD player.

For audio reproduction, Onkyo says, the DV-SP800 features high-quality 192kHz/24-bit D/A converters in addition to the company's "Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry" (VLSC), intended to remove unwanted pulse noise for "a smoother analog output signal."

The new player also features onboard DTS and Dolby Digital processing, as well as digital audio outputs for use with external DTS/Dolby Digital processors. For reproduction of audio-only signals, the player's video circuit can be switched off "to deliver the purest audio output to either the digital, or 5.1 analog RCA outputs" according to the company

Onkyo says the new universal DVD player will be available in October at a suggested retail price of $1000, offering consumers a "format-irrelevant reference player that lets [them] worry more about the music, and less about the hardware."

Teac's new machine hails under the Esoteric brand as the DV-50, while Yamaha's new offering is the DVP-S2000 with a suggested retail of $1,000.