WOW!!!

I purchased this DVD player about 4 months ago. I wouldn't have looked twice normally, but it was an open box item. The price was too good to say no. I had installed this player in customer's homes in the past, but assumed the performance was to be attributed, at least in part, to the other equipment involved in the system. I was amazed to see the difference that the player made in my existing system.


PICTURE

The improvement in picture quality was appreciable even on my old Toshiba rear projection CRT HDTV. I was connected using AudioQuest YIQ5 for video on the prior player. I first compared with this cable to look for differences in the picture. I was floored. Images were smoother and far more crisp. I played the movie "The One". Even dark scenes were noticeably clearer. You could see things in the shadows that are not as pronounced with the previous player.

I do not have an option of HDMI on this set. I do have a DVI input and have since swapped the YIQ5 for another AudioQuest cable, the DVONE. I am now able to use the up-converting feature. Here, I auditioned the movie "Sonny" it was not the greatest picture quality to begin with and I wanted to see how much the player would improve on it. Again, WOW!!! I wouldn't go so far as to call it HD quality. But, pretty close.


AUDIO

The sound was incredible. I use the AudioQuest Jaguar interconnects between this player and my receiver. Not including the "Out of Exile" CD that was conveniently close when installing the unit, I first played the Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan CD "In Session". You could almost "see" his fingers slide along the neck of his guitar. As disgusting as this sounds, you could hear the flem in the throat of Mr. King. My system was noticeably brighter in sound and seemed to sound much bigger. The room felt larger. The separation was great and even in stereo, my system was far more responsive. I assume this is partially due to the quality of the basic Sony that I was replacing. I picked up the Sony about 3 years ago. It is the DVPNC655.