Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yamaha S1800 Upconverting DVD, CD, SACD Universal Player, June 23, 2008
I've owned this player a good couple months now and have been very pleased with its performance. Very user friendly GUI and the machine operates easily. Discs load quickly and the transport is dead quiet. The picture quality is excellent be it composite (good), component (better) or HDMI (best). What's even better is the sound quality of CD's and SACD's thanks to four, 2 channel Burr-Brown dacs. It has a nice array of features, such as Audio Direct Mode, SACD Bass Management, SACD On Screen Text, Display Dimmer and an above average set of picture controls. These allow the user to really fine tune the image for optimal picture quality. Furthermore, it does a fantastic job up-converting Standard Definition DVD's to High Definition 1080P. It's also compatible with DVD-A, mp3, wma, divx and jpeg discs as well. The remote, although it's not back lit and lacks an eject button is still very user friendly, ergonomical and makes functional navigation a snap. The users guide is well laid out and easy to understand. Other notable features include, Dolby Digital 5.1 DTS built in decoders, gold plated pin terminals, one optical output, one digital coaxial output, Noise Shaped Video (NSV) with Faroudja DCDi processing that helps eliminate jagged edges and blurring, Wide Screen Mode selections, Screen Saver, Program & Repeat Playback for CD's and Progressive Scan. You could probably spend hundreds more on a universal player and still be hard pressed to get the performance of the S1800. So, if you're not ready to make the leap into blu just yet and want a great sounding CD/SACD and DVD-A player with DVD up-conversion for improved Standard Definition DVD viewing, consider the Yamaha S1800!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good experience so far, December 22, 2008
Much better quality than the Sony that died recently. Build quality is excellent and the transports are responsive and quiet.
One minor complaint is that it's hard to tell when you have a DVD-Audio playing that it's actually playing in that mode. I would like to see some sort of visual indicator that it's not playing from the DTS layer. I only have to guess that everything's configured correctly and that it's using the DVD-A layer. SACD is a little more straightforward because in general if it's 5.1 surround then it's working.
Solid appearance with the 4 big feet. Matches my Yamaha receiver which is nice. Nice to have sturdy looking components like this when so much of today's consumer electronic components are junky plastic throw-away stuff.
Was shopping around for SACD and DVD-A players at BestBuy. Went through a raft of absolute morons who had never heard of either format (even though they sell the discs there) and what's worse, they treated me like I was weird for asking about this. Gosh, I've never heard of that so you shouldn't have either! What a bunch of jumbo sized A-holes. On the other hand, just love Amazon.com! Can find the info I need to ensure I get the right thing at a competative price. The future is here and it ain't BestBuy.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nice device to round out a next-gen home theater, December 29, 2008
I recently upgraded everything in my HT setup, purchasing a new Yamaha RX-V1800 receiver, as well as Polk RTI A7 front speakers, Polk RTI A3 rear speakers, a Polk CSI A6 center channel and a Polk PSW505 subwoofer to go along with my PS3. After sampling some hi-def audio (the PS3 can play SACDs), I purchased this player to take advantage of its ability to send DSD signal straight to the receiver for maximum sound quality on SACDs. I also wanted to be able to access the DTS 5.1 tracks on DVD-A's instead of settling for the Dolby 5.1 mixdowns you get with a standard DVD player. I ended up getting a great deal on this here at Amazon.
So far I've had this item for about a week and I'm very happy with it. I've tested it with CDs, DVDs, DVD-A's and SACDs, and not only is the sound quality excellent (upsamples CDs too), but I have not experienced any of the problems I'd heard about with some other multi-format players. Load time is pretty good for all formats (including standard DVD), and with the discrete analog connections, SACDs sound phenomenal. I have a small but growing library of probably 50 or so SACDs/DVD-A's, so this unit has really allowed me to enjoy these titles with the best possible sound quality. Setting this unit to 'Audio Direct' and my receiver to 'Pure Direct' allows me to hear the straight signal right to the Polks; their dynamic range is really showcased when running multichannel SACD or DVD-A.
In addition to the hi-def sound benefits, the DVD video upconverter is substantially better than my PS3. Picture is clear and very sharp on my 46" 1080p Samsung, with very few visible artifacts and little to no quantization. Sound quality has fewer artifacts as well in comparison with the PS3.
This unit can handle MP3 or WMA discs, VCD, CD-R and CD-RW, DVD-R and DVD-RW, and can read both PAL and NTSC formats. With this unit you're pretty much all set for everything out there save for Blu ray.
The DVD-S1800 has an HDMI connection for A/V sources, component in for Video, stereo analog in as well as optical, digital coaxial, and multichannel analog for audio connections. You can pretty much configure this any way you want/can based on your HT's connection capabilities. Obviously, HDMI for A/V and multichannel analog for audio will provide superior sound/picture quality. The on-screen menu provided via HDMI to TV is easy to use as well.
The look and feel is very nice, matching my RX-V1800 in design perfectly with a brushed black aluminum front. It's not too heavy, weighing about 10 lbs., and it isn't very deep either (about 11").
Big fan of this unit. This all-purpose catch-all nicely complements both my receiver and the PS3, bringing me totally up-to-date in terms of next-gen audio and video. I especially enjoyed listening to the multichannel layers of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon SACD, Miles Davis' Kind of Blue SACD, Beethoven's Symphonies 5 & 7 SACD, as well as Yes' Fragile on DVD-A.
This is a great and inexpensive way to jump into hi-def audio. Even though neither SACD or DVD-A have really taken off thanks to the rise of compressed music, there are a number of excellent rock and especially classical and jazz albums out there. For me it was worth it, as the 5.1 sound and increased signal resolution really brings out the details that are often hidden or obscured in lesser audio formats.
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