The Best: For a few $$$ more

Once again, Denon delivers with the DVD-2500, its entry level DVD player. This is the latest edition to my ongoing 10-year AV experiment, which already includes a Denon amplifier and Denon CD player. In this unit as in most of their other product lines, Denon combines the "ease of use" one normally associates with Sony with the look, feel, and overall quality of audiophile quality components like Morantz, Nackamichi, and Yamaha. This DVD player rocks and rolls, and will leave you breathless with the quality of picture output (make sure you use S-video connections with all DVD players!!!) and sound output.

The units remote control unit is ergonomically efficient, and the built in menu's and option features are very easy to navigate and select -- a major bonus in the age of multi-angle, multi-soundtrack, and multi-option DVDs. Overall an A+ in this category, especially compared to competition.

The only real negative on this unit may be price, which is somewhere between $100 and $150 more expensive than the equivalent functioned Sony, JVC, or Pioneer system. Bottom line -- Suck it up and pay the extra dough . . . this is a product that will treat you right and make you proud, whether its the latest edition to your $10,000 system or the first step in upgrading your $1,5000 system. It sounds alot better, give a slightly better image, and will look magnificent in your rack system. This is a component you can build a first rate system around -- and it won't let you down.

As a general rule, you can't go wrong with Denon in the AV space, and the DVD-2500 does nothing to disprove it!!!!