Customer Reviews

Denon DVD-1940CI: DVD/CD/SACD with 1080p Video Upconversion

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I spent some time researching upconverting DVD players and found that the Denon DVD 1940CI was favored by other reviewers on several other sites - and they were right. This player's upconverting technology may not match Blue Ray's clarity and rich detail, but it makes an amazing impact on my 1080p LCD. For a hundred dollar DVD player you feel like you stole a production quality unit. This DVD player has a very nice loading tray and pickup head allowing for stable playback and tremendously good error correction. I have a two year old who likes to "help" with the DVDs and the pickup head reads the discs through her finger-prints and scratches. If you're on a budget and not interested in Blue Ray I would recommend this DVD player to you.

If you wanna a complete and reliable DVD set, out of doubt Denon 1940 is one of the best option. Affordable, read all DVD and CD formats including SACD, provide excellent image resolution and amazing sound quallity. The Absolute Sound Magazine has good references about this set. The best cost benefit in the market.

Simply put, for the money you just cannot touch this quality with any other brand. The Denon DVD 1940-CI may not have all of the bells and whistles of your local 'Best Buy' brands like Sony, LG...blah blah, but it sounds better, it built to last, and looks a helluva lot sexier. I have replaced my dvd player 3 times in as many years with those out of the box $99. ones at the chain stores. Not being ready to drop $300.-$400. on a blu-ray yet as I don't have the capable TV, this was the perfect option and I know the Denon brand will last as I have an entire system of their equipt. and it has been very stable with unrivaled sound. Doesn't take SD cards... really, when was the last time you even stuck one in your dvd player? Come to terms with the fact that 'extra's' as found on the larger chain brands are really useless and just lead to having more chances for something to break. In short, if you want great CD sound, grerat dvd picture, and a unit that is heavy, well built, and matches you system in piano black, than this is the one to buy. I love it!...shipped quick too! In the era of 'tiny' built products, I am happy to have a full sized unit that stays in perfect line with my tuner. I hate that everything is so slim and flimsy usually. this DVD is solid yet sleek on the rack.

In the past year or so I have tried many different players, from Oppo, Marantz, Yamaha, Pioneer, etc. All of them had issues with certain disc's, especially DVD-R's. The Denon 1940ci so far has read everything I've thrown at it, even badly scratched disc's.

It's also the fastest DVD player I have owned, displaying video as fast as 4 seconds after closing the tray. I just sold my BDP51-FD BR player because I couldn't stand waiting two minutes for a disc to start, so this was a big plus to me. The picture quality is also excellent.

The only fault I can find, is that it won't play SACD's over HDMI. I use my Pioneer DV-48AV for SACD, so not really an issue with me.

I like it so much that I picked up a second one as a spare, as most of the better manufacturers seem to be dropping DVD players, or at least not introducing new models.

I bought this item recently as everyone is blowing it out pricewise. At retail I wouldn't touch it but for less than 100 bucks delivered it is a great deal. I use it primarily as a redbook cd player and it sounds better than my megabuck but now obsolete cd players from the past. SACD playback is also quite good. No it won't sound like a Krell or top-of-the-line Sony ES but its 90% for a pittance. Forget the video upscaler as it isn't very good, but if your TV has a good upscaler just set the 1940 to output 480p and let your tv do the rest.

Better cd and SACD than my Oppo 980H but not as good an upscaler. I'm tempted to buy two. OH yea, Build quality is noticeably better than the <100dollar stuff at Best Buy.

My system consists of a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum integrated amp (Tubed) connected to a pair of Avalon Symbol speakers and a Hsu sub, the former two purchased recently. Originally, the speakers were auditioned with an Arcam player costing about $2k. Because my old Sony player expired I was looking for a replacement. While I may eventually get an Arcam, a throw-away replacement seemed in order until I settle in one place. This low priced Denon unit fit the bill.

While the product isn't hefty, the output is. CDs sound fine, but the SACD audio is very good indeed. I sampled the following well recorded SACDs: Mahler 5th (Telarc), Goldberg Variations-Glenn Gould (Sony), In the Flesh Live-Roger Waters [Pink Floyd](Columbia), Blow By Blow-Jeff Beck (Epic), Abraxas-Santana (Columbia), Broken Hearted Blues-Lightnin' Hopkins (Fidelity), The Door-Keb'Mo' (Epic/550), New Favorite-Alison Krauss (Rounder), Celine-Celine Dion (Epic/550), Kind of Blue-Miles Davis (Columbia Legacy), Guitar Town-Steve Earle (MCA), among others. The sonics were rich, solid, detaiiled and dynamic as SACDs are noted for. I am totally satisfied, especially given the very low cost of this unit. I cannot comment on the other capabilities of the product or its longevity at this time because it just arrived.

I've had a number of Philips DVD players which seem to have had a lifespan of 9-12 months before locking up, requiring disassembly to rescue a captive DVD. I decided to try the Denon 1740 first and was surprised at how well it worked. One of the best things about it was that unlike the Philips, programming a Universal Remote actually worked reliably. Something about the Philips codes caused the Universal to exhibit strange and unpredictable results. So I then decided to buy the Denon 1940CI to replace another Philips before that one failed, and have been very pleased with its operation. I just hope these Denons last longer than the Philips.

I purchased my 1940ci in November of 2007. We don't watch many DVD's, so it was about a week before we used it...it was a great unit...for a total of two movies. About 3 weeks later we went to watch another movie and the unit was dead. I contacted Denon who had me send it to thier repair facility in New Jersey. I live in Arizona. Over 6 weeks later I received it back with a repair tag that said there were two loose solders. I can forgive that. Things happen in shipping. Then, after being out of town for two months we sat down and watched a movie, worked well. a couple weeks later....again, no power...unit was dead again. So in about 6 months I was able to view 3 movies and the unit died twice. I have a Monster Power 5000, so I know it's not a power surge problem. I called Denon again, after emailing them and getting no reply in over a week, and they told me I could send it in again. I asked if they could refund my money, or at least allow me to exchange it at a local authorised dealer...the answer was a resounding NO. send it in or we won't help you. I told them the unit was obviouisly a lemon, the reply was "we never said our units were perfect". My issue isn't so much with quality, the unit was fine...all three times it worked. My issue is with Denon not caring that I paid a very high price for a product based on their reputation for building great quality product, and then not offering me anything but another 6 week plus wait to use it again. Their rep just didn't care. I'll go back to my Pioneer Elite products...I have had them for a long time and only minor problems there.

I ordered it [...] at 8ave.com thru Amazon and received the player few days later. I plugged it in and clearly saw and heard the difference between this player and my old Denon player. This player read the dics much faster. The sound is great! I have it hooked up with Yamaha 3300 and sound thru a mid-end Monitor Audio. It sounds incredible! I meant how can you get this player with these loaded tech (DVD-A, SACD, 1080P HDMI,...) [....]??? If you go around and shop for regular DVD player it will cost a bit lower but quality is not even close. I used Denon player before and I could tell you that their sound and picture qualities is one of the best out there. The bottom line is if you are into audio and video quality... this player [....] is a steal. So, get one before they are gone.

It was a nice unit while it lasted, which was not very long. When it was working, it worked as advertised. We seldom watch DVDs - it had been used about 20 times tops. We watched a new DVD on Christmas day and everything worked fine. Today we were going to watch another new DVD but the unit would not power up - it's just dead. Tried everything - no luck. I've had great success with Denon until now. Probably won't buy again.