Everyone knows what a battleship is like. Powerful, awesome, bristling with firepower, and demonstrating exemplary performance — right? The same is true for high-end DVD players. Top-of-the-line models are truly formidable pieces of technology, with capabilities and staying power that make them unsinkable by any lesser player. But top-of-the-line DVD players, like battleships, are also expensive. A good player can sell for well over $2000. And, sometimes you just don't need that much armament to rule your particular ocean. Sometimes what you need is, say, a heavy battle cruiser. Or, in the case of a DVD player, a component that is powerful and truly impressive, but not extravagantly priced. For example, consider the Denon DVD-2900.

This sleek, solid, matte-black chassis conceals an exceptional array of technology.

The DVD-2900 caused quite a commotion when it was introduced at the 2003 Consumer Electronics show. And rightly so. This universal player offers progressive-scan video output and handles an entire flotilla of disc and file formats. It plays SACD and DVD-Audio discs (both with full multichannel capabilities), DVD-Video, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, both Kodak Picture CD and Fujifilm Fujicolor CD, along with MP3 and JPEG files stored on disc. And it is priced at $999.00 — that's over $2500 less than Denon's flagship DVD-9000, which retails for $3500. Rather impressive, no?

Armament
I suppose you could build a naval cruiser that had big guns, but lacked really heavy armor. Similarly, I suppose a DVD player could be compatible with many formats, but lack high-quality design. Fortunately, the Denon DVD-2900 is fully capable on both counts. To play back its armada of disc types, it uses Burr-Brown digital-to-analog converters (DACs) that can handle 192 kHz/24-bit DVD-Audio information, along with a separate chip for playback of the DSD signal on SACDs with high-frequency audio performance up to 100 kHz.

The DVD-2900 is equipped with built-in Dolby Digital® and DTS® decoders. For the cleanest possible signal path when you are playing an audio-only source, a two-mode Pure Direct feature can shut down all video processing and/or digital audio decoding. In addition, the DVD-2900, unlike many earlier high-resolution players, features bass management with a fixed crossover at 80 Hz. Moreover, bass management filtering is performed in the digital domain, prior to conversion to analog; this means that the filtering is more precise.

On the video side, the DVD-2900 uses Denon's PureProgressive circuit. This technology detects a direct film-to-DVD transfer and corrects the pull-down anomalies for proper 2:3 playback. This creates a smooth picture quality that avoids the flickering artifacts occasionally seen in DVD-Video playback. Unlike most DVD-Video players with 10-bit DACs, this machine uses a 12-bit, 108 MHz video digital-to-analog converter.

Audiophile details abound. Denon claims that the special protein paint on the transport mechanism makes it more resistant to vibration. The 18-pound chassis has a low center of gravity that also resists resonance and vibrations. The entire front panel reinforces a feel of refinement — it's elegant, but with everything you'll need. You get all the basic transport controls, plus a switch to activate the Pure Direct modes and another that switches between the layers on an SACD disc — MULTI, STEREO, and CD, which plays the standard 44.1 kHz PCM layer on a hybrid disc. The remote control has everything else you'll need for operating the unit. It is fairly average, but the main navigational controls glow in the dark — a nice touch that is welcome in a darkened home theater.

The rear panel isn't the jumble of connections you would expect on a player that is this versatile. But it does provide a feature that was a pleasant surprise. In addition to the six discrete analog outputs that are common on all DVD-Audio and SACD players, the DVD-2900 has two sets of front left and right outputs. Obviously, you'll need an amplifier that can support this extra feed, but it's ideal for folks set up with one set of speakers for surround music use and one set that is strictly for stereo use. You see, for surround movies, many people prefer to use a completely matched 5.1-channel speaker array, while using a pair of very high-end speakers for stereo playback. Or, one set of the front outputs could also be used to connect directly (for shame) to a TV input, for basic stereo playback.

An elegant sufficiency of inputs and outputs makes connection simpler.

Ready for Maneuvers
The wonderful thing about a universal player is that you don't have to decide what format you prefer, just what music. I ran out to the store and bought Fragile by Yes on DVD-Audio, Alison Krauss + Union Station Live on SACD, and Peter Gabriel's Secret World Live concert video on DVD-Video, knowing that all would be compatible with the DVD-2900. How liberating!

Setting up the DVD-2900 was very simple. I used the six analog outputs to feed the matching six inputs on my Kenwood VR-410 A/V receiver. For video, I was using a Princeton Graphics HDTV monitor; of course, I used a component video connection. My speaker array consists of a pair of Polk RT800i towers up front, with a CS400i center channel, RT35i surrounds, and the PSW650 subwoofer. Installation complete, it was time to check out my new purchases.

My first impression was that the DVD-2900 exudes quality. Isn't it funny how something as simple as a disc tray can set the tone of the player? Instead of the typical wobbly tray that moves with a high-pitched whine, the DVD-2900 has a silky-smooth motorized action accompanied by a confident whir. Very classy.

Fragile was one of my favorite albums of all time. I wore out my first LP of it, and practically did the same to the CD years later. Needless to say, I was looking forward to checking out the DVD-Audio release of Fragile. I hate to sound trite, but this fully engaging surround experience is how I had always heard their music in my head anyway. The disc contained Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 mixes that are playable on DVD-Video players, and 96 kHz DVD-Audio 5.1 and stereo mixes. The player defaulted to the DVD-Audio mix (although I could choose any one I wanted). Fragile, excuse the pun, mixes up the mixing styles. For example, "South Side of the Sky" starts with a powerful percussive hit in the sub, and uses the surrounds very subtly for reverb effects; they wrap gently around you, instead of making your head spin. "Long Distance Runaround" puts the distinctive rhythm guitars both in the front and in the rear surrounds, but the instruments remain fixed — locked into their speaker positions. Bill Bruford's "Five Per Cent for Nothing" has instruments jumping all around from speaker to speaker, including the percussion — luckily it's only a 32-bar song. Considering that this album was originally recorded in 1972, the Denon brought the incredibly complex mixes of Fragile to life, in a completely modern way.

Alison Krauss + Union Station Live was recorded directly to a DSD system — this is really the only way to do an SACD. Engineer Gary Paczosa did a fabulous job of mixing this concert, keeping the band firmly anchored in the front soundstage. Alison's vocals were mixed with stereo reverb in the front left and right speakers, with a little bit of the wet signal (the voice track mixed with reverb) in the center channel. Paczosa used the surrounds for a slight amount of reverb, the hall sound, and the audience, which was recorded with microphones strategically placed through the Louisville Palace concert hall. This gave a nice, intimate feeling, without ever drawing attention to the surrounds. The DVD-2900 can switch from the 5.1 mix to the high-resolution stereo, or even the hybrid CD track, but each time you switch, the disc starts at the beginning. If you have a compatible receiver and speaker system, just keep in it the MULTI position all of the time — it sounded excellent.

The DVD-2900 can play just about any audio or video disc in current circulation.

Peter Gabriel's Secret World Live is one of my all-time favorite concert videos. I saw that tour live in 1994, and since my laser disc of the concert is a stereo recording, I was very anxious to check out the 5.1 DVD-Video. The 5.1 mix was exciting and enveloping. This concert spanned two stages, so it seemed very appropriate to mix the instruments throughout the entire surround sound stage. Visually, the concert was digitally transferred for widescreen 16:9 anamorphic display. The film looked good, considering it was chock full of smoky scenes and bright spotlights against an almost monochromatic audience. The progressive outputs gave this a terrific look. In the opening song, "Talk to Me," the stretched-taut, diagonal phone line could cause problems on a lesser player, but it remained a solid line across the screen. This excellent de-interlacing performance wasn't an accident; the DVD-2900 uses the same de-interlacing chip as Denon's top-end DVD-9000. Picture color was very vibrant, and wholly accurate. One could say that the picture quality was almost film-like on my HDTV monitor. Moreover, when I switched to a standard analog monitor, the picture quality was still very good. Without question, this player provides superb audio and video playback.

Admiral, Start Your Engines
The Denon DVD-2900 is a very impressive player. Purists might need the top-of-the-line Denon DVD-9000 battleship, but I couldn't imagine it performing significantly better than the DVD-2900. As your collection of various formats grows, and record labels eventually align with either DVD-Audio or SACD, a universal player like the DVD-2900 appears to be the logical solution. It is almost the best player that Denon makes, and for all but the heaviest naval engagements, it will pound the enemy fleet. That rowboat that your neighbor is using won't stand a chance.