DVD Players

• $2,999
• Digital Video output: HDMI
• Video Upconversion: No
• Audio Decoding: DD, DTS, DVD-Audio, MP3, WMA
• Ins and Outs: HDMI, component, RGB/SCART, composite and S-Video, coaxial and optical digital audio, 5.1-channel analog audio, RS-232
• Feature Highlights: HDMI output, integrated Zoran decoding engine w/deinterlacing, 12-bit/216MHz video DACs, HDCD decoding, bass management with level and delay settings, critically damped, three-layer "Full Metal Jacket" Accousteel chassis

The Skinny: Just one format short of being a universal player, Arcam's FMJ DV29 nevertheless offers such outstanding performance with the formats it does play that it earns the highest recommendation we offer 'round these parts. The "Full Metal Jacket" chassis is made from a three-layer material used in luxury automobiles to damp road noise, and that's just the beginning of the unique design features of this player. Although the Arcam's overall video quality is outstanding, the deinterlacing of the Zoran solution isn't quite as sure-footed with video-based material as the Silicon Image deinterlacer Arcam used in previous DVD players. While a number of the disc players here made the cut based on video quality, an area in which the FMJ DV29 certainly excels, the audio really stands head and shoulders above. With DVD-A discs and especially CDs, the DV29 competes with dedicated high-end (audio only) disc players costing multiples of its price. Its inner detail, rhythmic drive, soundstaging precision and natural timbre are pure high-end. So, with the FMJ DV29 you get an outstanding DVD player and a truly audiophile grade CD/DVD-A player for free! Or vice verse, depending on your priorities!