DVD players playing CD's
 

I am going to dig my (I say mine but they still technically belong to a mate) decent speakers (Rega EL8) out of the loft and hopefully set them up in the living room, the unit under the tv has a limited ammount of space so I dont really want to put much more additional equipment under there, I am going to have to buy a new amp (any recomendations under 200 quid ?) but was wondering whether a normal DVD player would be ok for playing cd's, I know they will but how good or bad will it sound. I am not that into hi-fi but I have a reasonable idea of what I find acceptable, the choice being to use the DVD player or do I spend 150/200 quid on a separate CD player from Richer Sounds or somewhere.

Anyone have any experience of using a DVD player as a 'hi-fi' component ?

Try a DivX player these will play anything (generally) you throw at them, also supports 5.1 so not too bad, they go for about 40 quid on the net.

Roo

I have 3 cd players and 2 dvd players.One day i did a sound comparison and found my high end Sony dvd player was as good as my best cd player.
Arrange an in store demo then decide.
There is no subject where more rubbish is talked than hi-fi.
Trust your ears and nothing else.

'There is no subject where more rubbish is talked than hi-fi.'

Be careful saying stuff like that on here, there are those that still listen to records and reckon they can tell the difference between different bits of wire and pay handsomely to get the right ones. I have always thought its a case of buy what you can afford, if you find it adequate keep it otherwise save up for some better kit, alot of my mates got into hi-fi and forgot about the music, I had a 2 grand system demo'd to me via a Rod Stewart CD !

Might borrow a mates nice CD player and stack it up against one of the numerous Proline DVD players that litter the house !

I mean, they cant be that sh1t sounding (DVD players in general, not the Proline) as they are the basis for all home cinema, plus the lasers and transport are supposedly a lot more accurate than the cd standard, I know theres more to it than that but it will be an interesting experiment.

The DACs, power supplies and jitter correction are generally better in a "proper" CD player than in a cheap DVD player. However, for most uses, the DVD will do an acceptably good job.

As regards "just buying what you can afford", I disagree. Listen then buy what you can afford. Different kit at the same price range definitely sounds significantly different (I won't necessarily say one is better than another). If you're spending even a few hundred quid, listen to amps/CD players etc (with your speakers, not some random ones from the shop) and get one you like the sound of. And use the sort of music you like to listen to - even if it is Rod Stewart ;) At the end of the day, it's you that listens to the music, so you're the only one who has to be happy with what you've bought. (this support's Paul's closing statement!)

And for what it's worth, with most "real" hi-fi (i.e. not midi systems etc), I believe it is very straightforward to hear the difference between different cables, etc. I probably fit into your "paid handsomely" bracket to get what I believe are the right cables etc - but to my ears it makes sense with the (admittedly pretty pricey) kit I have with it.

Buy what you can afford and have listened to and enjoyed would make more sense I agree.

Its a whole different world that I dont really understand, what I do remember from my mates being into it (and me to a certain extent) is that my mate would sit there watching for our reaction and fretting over farting details, however you get a load of girls in a room with a 200 quid midi system, a selection of cd's and they get on with it and just enjoy the music, I think there is a happy medium to be found somewhere !

A few months ago i listened to a 23K cd sourced setup and it sounded no better than one i could create for 2k.

i like my hi fi and can tell differences in cables etc but don't think for one minute that everyone will appreciate (or even hear) it the same way i do.
it all depends on what your values are imo.

people scoff at cable theory and to some extent it's bollox (at the high end due to diminishing returns) but from an engineering standpoint they make good sense. hi fi at the end of the day is all about maintaining signal integrity from source to speaker. crap cables are crap conductors of electricity so are no good at transferring a musical signal from one place to another. likewise cheap, poorly engineerd cd players, amps etc don't do a good job of maintaining signals either so what you end up hearing is a fraction of what is possible from a cd or record. in this case i really don't understand why the record industry goes to the lengths of producing cd's and records as the vast majority of people don't actually appreciate, or are interested, in what the mediums are capable of.

on the twist side i dont see why i spent so much money on cables, cd players, speakers and amps when i listen to albums from Oasis and the Killers that sound absolutely awful on it though sound great on a little micro system:( perversely some of the best produced music at the minute imo comes from Girls Aloud always sounds damn good on my system!:P

Paul - doesn't surprise me, I've heard some seriously pricey kit I didn't like (probably good stuff, but not to my taste), and some pricey kit that needs to be very carefully matched with everything else it's connected to or it will sound awful. System matching or "synergy" is at least as important in the expensive kit as the cheap. I found - for example - that my system sounds better with Nordost Blue Heaven II speaker cable that Nordost Red Dawn II. This despite the two being from the same manufacturer, but with Red Dawn at nearly twice the price (admittedly, both are silly money by "normal people's" standards!)

J4cko - you're right, it's just the happy medium is in a different place for different people! On some evenings, I'd swap my ~10k system for your example of the £200 midi system and a room full of girls - as long as I could swap back the next morning. ;)

BigJay - the problem might be that you're hearing e.g. Oasis in the "grungy" style it was recorded - i.e. how the sound engineer wanted it to sound, it's just your system is very revealing of that "grunge". Some higher end stuff does seem to exagerate this kind of effect - I found it took a lot of effort to get a system that sounds good with almost any style of recording, but it is possible.

i wouldnt call my system high end, its basically an av system to be honest although i use it for music also because my music doesnt demand anything of a higher spec ie i like alot of dance music lol
im using:
Pioneer VSX-AX3
Myryad MCD-500
Monitor Audio Silver6 floorstanders
Monitor Audio ASW100
Cambridge Audio Pacific Cabling and Monitor Audio Pureflow Speaker Cable

when the amp is put on Direct it doesnt sound half bad with most music! when i get my own house (again) i think i may invest in a stand alone HiFi

Is it not true that a lot of high end Hi-Fi is actually better than the stuff that a lot of music used to be recorded onto ?

As for the cables, I do appreciate the difference between bell wire and a quality speaker cable or interconnect but as you said the law of diminishing returns applies with stuff like that more than any other product I can think of (even cars).

Anyway, cant listen to anything as I get told to turn it down, even with my current 'system' which is a pc and some creative labs speakers !

So back on topic, has anyone tried playing a cd in a dvd player through a decent amp/speakers/interconnects and what was it like ?

As i said,yes.
What was it like,well that depends on the dvd player,but it was basically good enough for me to use my dvd as a permanent source.

I simultaneously run my AV system (Pioneer 565/VSX811 & JVC SVHS) and hi-fi (Cyrus DAD7/Cyrus II + PSX) through my main stereo speakers (Mission 764i). I use an Ixos amp switcher to isolate whichever I'm using at the time. The Cyrus stuff, although now over 15 years old still sounds much better than the AV stuff on well recorded music. I don't find myself listening to music that much these days though, which is why I've never bought anything newer. I really enjoy the AV set-up, particularly a good action flick with DTS.

To answer the original question, given that you have a source and some (albeit not yours) speakers, and the stuff is going to be sited below/around the TV, I'd go for a budget AV amp from Denon/Pioneer/Yamaha and consider adding some cheap surrounds and get the full range of uses. Stereo music if you want it, DD/DTS surround when you don't. Get into serious hi-fi when the budget is better, as I have seen many friends start low and never stop trying to improve at great expense whereas if you buy really good kit (even pushing the boat out and buying above your budget) you will probably be satisfied and just enjoy it for many years instead of ending up on that endless upgrade path.

I use a Tosh SD330 DVD player, through a Denon 1803 Amp, with Mission M73 floorstanders & REL quake on 'Direct Stereo' and its plenty good enough for me.

I too had a similar problem - I didn't want more boxes & especially more speakers in a room that already has 6.1 surround!

re the cables thang - I recently replace the 'bell wire' to my rear surrounds with some QED superflat under a new carpet we have just had fitted - I had to turn down the rears 3 points to re-balance the levels - I could'nt believe the difference the speaker wire made to the volume of the signal! - But as to paying £300 for a interconnect - no way!

I would also add dont fret too much about the source,concentrate more on the speakers.
Small sattelit speakers are awful for music(but great for films),full size floorstanders/bookshelf are the way to go.

i honestly believe that vinyl is good for hi fi costing tens of thousands (providing what you put together is well thought out and not expensive for expensive's sake). vinyl as a medium has massive potential and is not really realised untill you spend at least £1k on a turntable/arm/cart setup.

with regard to cars and hi fi i think diminishing returns are pretty poor on n/a cars. if i choose to buy the 'alleged' best quality for my honda then i can spend a small fortune on an exhaust or induction kit from spoon or mugen. if i buy the two from mugen then i can expect to pay arround £2k for a 10-15bhp increase :eek: if i bought the two systems from a less reputable/expensive manufacturer then i'd still be looking at an 8-12bhp increase for about £1k.

back on topic though ;) my dvd player sounds ok but thats as far as it goes. music sounds alright but not special in any way.

I was told in an Hi-Fi shop that a lot can depend on the Amp rather than the player. Most 5.1 (or whaetever) amps will do a decent job of both films & music but will tend to do a better job of one than they do with the other.

Go to a shop where you can here them - it's the only way really. And most will allow you to play your own cd's if you take one.

Do a blind test (even better a double blind) and choose what sounds best to you. It's amazing how easily you can be convinced (even by yourself) that something sounds better than something else when you know what it is you are listening to - emperor's clothes syndrome.

A DVD player will play CD's fine, If you really want to experiment with changing the sound; try moving the kit and you furniture around in the room. Room acoustics have a far greater effect on the sound than any change of amp / player. And as for speaker cable! This; http://www.audioholics.com/ is a very good site to explain all the snake-oil myths.

Not 100% convinced by that site (sorry!). It gives very good scientific data about cables, but nothing about listening. IMHO, just getting good lab data isn't the whole picture by any means. I'd rather have something I enjoy listening to than something that gives very nice graphs when plugged into a test system.

I do agree that room accoustics do have a significant effect. Moving furniture around the room does not even nearly have a "far greater effect than any change of amp / player", but it does have a significant effect. Moving house and having a bigger room significantly improved my system, although at nearly £1/4 million, it's not the best value hi-fi upgrade! ;)

Back to the original question. My £150 DVD player certainly doesn't sound as good playing stereo music through a decent system as my CD player (but I wouldn't expect it to!). However, it sounds perfectly reasonable, certainly a lot better than most midi systems. If you're buying from scratch, it doesn't make sense to buy expensive speakers / amp and a cheap source. However, if you already have the speakers /amp, it's a solution that will work OK.

Moving the furniture has a huge effect, hmm, yes it does, on the missus.

There is that too. ;) What I took it to mean (so partially agreed with) is that there is an effect by moving:-
(a) the speakers - this can be a very big effect particularly w.r.t. proximity to walls/corners,
(b) the chair/sofa you sit in, and
(c) the equipment rack (at least in some instances).
(d) under-furnished rooms tend to be very echoey
I assumed the comment didn't suggest you'll hear the difference to the hi-fi by moving a coffee table or footstool 2 foot across the room - you won't.
Room shape and size has a lot bigger effect that furniture in it IMHO. I'll also stick by my comment above that it does not even nearly have as much effect as changing the hi-fi itself.

Back to original topic again - using the DVD player as source sounds like a missus-friendly option! :p