Denon DVD-2500BTCI Blu-ray/DVD/CD Player

Comment: After one month of Blu-Ray movies on my Denon Blu-Ray player, I've decided to share my experience. Overall, I gave this player five stars because I had zero issues with it, none. After receiving the player I hooked it up via HDMI 1.3a cable to the TV and I was on my way.
The quality of sound and picture are quite an upgrade from my previous DVD player. Now regular TV looks like an impressionist painting, and every time you watch a movie you will wish it was on Blu-Ray instead.

Optionally of course, you may decide to login to the Denon website and download the latest firmware update. The process is painless.
(1) Download the update.
(2) Write on a cd.
(3) Insert on the player.
(4) Follow the instructions in the manual.

Again, no issues with the firmware upgrade.
I like the hefty construction of the equipment, which allows for a two prong outlet (no third prong usually used for grounding). Which means the player will dissipate voltage and not rely on whether your household outlet has proper grounding or not.

Points to consider:
(-) There is a new standard on Blu-Ray players for 3D movies, which use a 1.4 HDMI cable standard. The word in the street is that a firmware upgrade will not allow the player to comply with the new standard and you will need to change the equipment all together. This has not been confirmed, and some AV equipment manufacturers like Harman Kardon have announced that they will provide firmware upgrades to comply with the 1.4 standard without the need to replace your hardware, that may be a possibility for Denon high end products as well.

Comment: I love this Blue-ray player so far; just got it and hook up was just like any other dvd player. The sound and video are unreal; I'm replacing a pioneer 51FD blue-ray player; don't get it twisted, the pioneer is one great blue-ray player. After the last firmware up date I lost something from a sound aspect from the 51FD; this has been replaced by the 2500BTCI. I really didn't like some of Denon's products (1909 receiver)but I've been sold on this dvd player. I purchased this player today 4-17-10 from B.B;for an amazzzzzing $59.00; that's right, even the sale persons were amazed at the price. It was a open box item; they found me a cord and remote for it;including the warranty total came up to $73.00 give or take the change.I moved the 51FD up stairs to the bedroom. They doubled checked the the price 2 or 3 times to make sure it was correct and it was. I highly recommend this player.Thanks B.B and Denon for a great product.

Comment: The sound is perfect, I have PS3 and watch bluray movies for over two years. The PQ is very similar, colors look more natural, but the sound, that's where this thing shines. Denon and Onkyo, may say not a good combination but with my 875 sounds terrific.

Great product.

Comment: I was lucky to purchase this Blu ray transport at a great price through Amazon (from Vann's), which made it competitive with a number of other players. I have several Denon components and like the brand, so I chose this model. I have not been disappointed!

The DVD-2500 is not for everyone... note that it has one connection out - HDMI only. If that won't work for you, then don't buy this player. However, if that does work for you... so will the 2500. Picture quality and sound are amazing! Though it takes some time to load discs (as they all do), there is no lag once you start playing. What I am also very impressed with is the upscaling of DVD video to 1080P-quality images. This makes re-veiwing your existing DVD collection a treat - almost as if your entire library has been upgraded.

The unit is built like a brick - heavy and sturdy. I anticpate years of use and enjoyment, and would make this same purchase again. The only reason I give it four stars instead of five is for the lack of Internet capable features that most players support now. I can live without those features, but for the price range of this player one might expect it to have Internet capable features - which it does not.

Comment: When first introduced, MSRP for the DVD-2500BTCI was $1k. I liked it and would have paid that much for it eventually. But when it went on sale for $500, I just couldn't resist. Assuming Denon hasn't substituted cheaper parts somewhere along the way, the current sale prices of under $350 are almost like legalized shoplifting. This is my first Blu-Ray player so I don't have another to compare it to. But both picture and sound are outstanding. As long as you only need an HDMI output, and are patient at least in some regards, I can't recommend this unit enough. Observed Strengths & Weaknesses below.

STRENGTHS:

With just about every receiver, pre/pro, etc., out there already having an array of surround decoders, D/A converters, etc., I found it annoying that these were duplicated and charged for in just about all DVD/Blu-Ray players. Not so in the DVD-2500BTCI, which is why it is called a "transport" instead of a "player." You're only paying for what you need...no useless stuff that's duplicated elsewhere in a typical system.

Unit has a nice, high-end feel that rivals that of $2k pieces from anybody. Front panel buttons have a nice, positive feel, and the disc drawer is silken-smooth and nearly silent.

Detachable power cord

Can program it with a 2nd remote code so as not to interfere with other Denon units.

When you're at Chapter 10 or higher, there is now a space between the Chapter# and Time, instead of one big row of hard-to-read gobbledygook all run together, as on Denon's previous players.

Remote has a nice, quality feel in many ways.

WEAKNESSES

Response is sloooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww; Stop command during Blu-Ray disc playback sometimes took 30 seconds for player to acknowledge. This may be more a property of Blu-Ray players than of Denon specifically, but I am mentioning it anyway since responsiveness is at least to some degree important to me.

No Power Off, just Stand By.

Among the 3 brands of DVD transports/players I have used heavily, the transports on the Denons have consistently been the least precise. For example, if you are fast-forwarding and then press Play, playback sometimes doesn't resume even close to the point where you pressed the Play button. Other brands land close or dead on.

Remote buttons have to be pressed firmly to work.

I've bought (almost literally) a ton of Denon products over the years. Counting only the ones I bought new from authorized dealers, many have arrived defective, or had "issues" shortly after the warranty expired. The people that answer their Tech questions have actually been OK, but those in their repair center have been aloof, evasive, and sometimes questionably competent. Making things worse, repair/replacement parts have been discontinued insanely early on many of their most expensive pieces.