![]() I've even seen some superb results form the sort of unlicensed shite sold in supermarkets and newsagents.* I'm not trying to diminish the importance of video circuitry, when plenty of engineers will tell you that a video signal is far more complex to resolve than audio, but so much of a player - DVD or universal - is kit of parts made to an astonishingly high standard by the OEM supplier. ![]() Let's not even question the video side, because more and more we're learning that most brand-name DVD video players from £200 up deliver acceptable images, provided that you have a projector, screen or other display device able to resolve the images. So what does Theta's Compli bring to the table for five times the outlay? But, hey, for £800 or whatever it's retail was, the machine is a delight - surely to be regarded as a future classis, if the DVD era is to produce any. But I am not so easily pleased that I don't realise it can be bettered in part by a standalone SACD player dedicated to the task, a CD-audio-only player dedicated to its task, a DVD video player dedicated task, and so on. It has NEVER disappointed me, though its design brief is that of an affordable machine. In my multi-channel system of Lexicon MC1 A/V processor, Sony TA-P9000ES line-level multi-channel pre-amp, Theta Intrepid 5-channel amplifier, Marantz plasma screen and five MartinLogan Speakers, I have a much cherished Denon DVD-2900 universal player. But it begs a question that cannot simply be waved away with a Gallic shrug and a whiff of Gauloise: who the hell needs a universal player costing £4482? And it has the sonic power to disarm even those who refuse to admit that, their commercial failure aside, SACD and DVD-A did have so much to offer. The what happens? Along comes Theta's Compli, which seems like the answer to a raft of problems. The entire notion of discs as music carriers that the market for disc players of any sort is disappearing. To make matters even screwier, the iPod has inflicted so much damage on (One wag told me that their combined global sales in 2003-4 were LESS than the sales of LPs.) So UDPs no longer seem so appealing. SACD and DVD-A have proven to be complete and utter fiascos, beyond salvation, whatever anyone tells you. ![]() Probably end up in so-called 'CD-only' machines for purists. Transports for smaller independents to buy, so nobbled universal drives will OEM suppliers have decided to stop, or are about to stop producing CD-only But a lot of other stuff has also happened alongside the arrival of this expeller of consumer confusion. Now it's gotten to the point where, as opposed to non-license-paying universal players can be had for under £300. CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, which need computers to work. Successful UDPs would, without exception, play ANY 5in silver disc, including all manner of written-to and re-writeable types, with the exception of data rather than audio/video discs, e.g. The means of achieving this? The ready availability of 'universal disc players' at all price points. As recently as a year ago, any sane observer would have argued that the best thing that could happen to the home entertainment business would be an end to the format nonsense.
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