Yamaha DVD-S2500 DVD Audio/Video and SA-CD Player
Smooth sound, but slow to load discs
This is a GOOD DVD player, but there are few things it could do better.  I have a 5 year old Sony DVD player.  Also, compared this side by side with Denon DVD 2910, using two of the same music CDs (regular CDs, not SACDs) so I can switch from one to the other instantly.  I played them together at the same time so that the transition from the Yamaha to the Denon was as seamless as possible.  Here's my conclusion. <br /> <br />1.  Sound quality.  I believe Yamaha has better sound than Denon DVD 2910.  The difference is very little and not very noticeable.  But, the Denon has brighter sound at the higher frequency.  This is noticeable when playing violins.  But over all, I think Yamaha has a smoother and unexaggerated sound.  Compared to my old Sony DVD player, the difference was more readily noticeable.  My Sony had more exaggerated brightness at higher frequency. <br /> <br />2.  Disc loading.  The biggest draw back for Yamaha is that it takes longer than the Denon to recognize the disc.  I didn't time the difference, but it was noticeable.  The display in the display window also reacts slower in Yamaha also.  Also, unloading the disc takes a little longer as well.  Compared to that, my old Sony was the fastest, then the Denon, and the Yamaha. <br /> <br />3.  Remote control.  Remote control for the Denon was better.  More controls for movies, e.g., Denon had separate buttons for fast forward, etc. <br /> <br />4.  Connectivity.  Denon had DVI connection.  Yamaha didn't.  But this wasn't a big deal for me because I am using component output anyway.  But Yamaha has HDMI connection (so did Denon). <br /> <br />5.  Picture quality.  Both seemed good.  Couldn't tell the difference much on my 27 inch screen TV. <br /> <br />Bottom line:  I chose to stay with Yamaha because of the sound quality.  But I give only 4 stars because of the reason in #2 above.  Both players are almost the same size.  As for build quality, both feel solid.  Before comparing the Yamaha and Denon,I tried Marantz 4500 (at around $300, it's almost half the price of either Yamaha or Denon), but Marantz 4500 just felt cheap; it was flimsy and my old Sony felt much more solid than the Marantz (so I returned it). <br /> <br />My system consits of the following: <br />- Cambridge Soundworks New Ensemble speakers -- very nice speakers -- been looking for a better looking replacements and did side by side comparison with many others costing more, but haven't found one yet.  If you have a good recommendation, please let me know. <br />- Velodyne HGS-12 sub <br />- Onkyo TX-DS 777 receiver <br />- Sony DVP-S525 DVD player -- this is the one I'm replacing.