Sony DVP-NS400D DVD Player
Great match for an older receiver
My wife and I were recently given a &quot;hand-me-down&quot; Nakamichi receiver.  The receiver is in good shape and has great sound quality, so it was too good to pass up.  Unfortunately, it is about 4 years old and lacks Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding.  The logical solution was to find a DVD player that would decode the audio before it gets to the receiver, and after a bit of online research we converted part of our tax return into a Sony DVP-NS400D.<br />We have had this unit for almost two months, and have watched a number of different movies and listened to many CD's on it.  So far, the results have been impressive in terms of video and audio quality, as well as ease of use.  However, there are a few things anyone looking at this unit should consider:<br />1) This DVD player is a great match for anyone who has an older receiver that lacks Dolby 5.1 decoding, but the decoding feature is basically useless if you have a newer receiver that already has decoding capabilities.  In this case, a cheaper dvd player without this feature would probably work just as well for you.<br />2) This DVD player WILL play CD-R's and CD-RW's, but it can be picky.  For best results, use decent media and do not try to burn them at full speed.<br />3) This DVD player does NOT support SACD's or mp3's.  Since there are almost no SACD's out there yet and the poor quality of most mp3's is even more apparent on a good sound system, these do not seem to be very important omissions.  However, consider yourself warned.<br />If you have a high-end television that would benefit from progressive scan or a newer receiver that can do it's own Dolby decoding, then you should look elsewhere.  Otherwise, I highly recommend the Sony DVP-NS400D as a good performer for a reasonable price.