Denon DVD-A1UD review

Cast your mind back to the cult movie This Is Spinal Tap and the oft-quoted line about the band's Marshall amplifier that 'goes to 11'. It's simply one better, one louder, than everyone else's amps that only go to 10. In review terms and HCC star ratings, the Denon DVD-A1UD goes to 6.

And the first few hours with the DVD-A1UD filled me with tears. Tears of anguish.

Firstly, because it is ridiculously complex to set up, particularly if you are trying to navigate Denon system-specific features such as HDMI-sync jitter reduction over a network cable using DenonLink 4th Edition. Ouch.

Secondly, because I have only just purchased and installed the awesome Sony BDP-S5000ES and the Denon dismisses it in almost every respect. That really hurts.

And lastly, because I would give up eating to afford the DVD-A1UD and, as it bears a price tag of four and a half thousand quid, it means I am going to be really, really hungry by Christmas 2010. Sob, sniffle, blub.

Hell's popcorn! £4,500! When there are big-brand Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players out there for less than £200, that seems like a huge chunk of money. But compare a new 1.0 litre Kia Picanto at £6,000 to a Porsche 911 GT2 at £135,000 – it's the same price ratio and same performance ratio too.

For Denon's DVD-A1UD is comfortably the best universal disc-player ever made. Yes, it is one of only a few BD-based universal players ever made, but it is at the top of the game with every type of disc you put in it.

Not only is its Blu-ray video performance even smoother and richer than the reference Pioneer BDP-LX91, it upscales DVDs with close-to-HD quality perfection and plays music on CD, SACD and DVD-A with a virtuoso hand capable of embarrassing quite a few hi-fi exotica CD-players at multiples of the price.

Its upgradeable architecture and Profile 2.0 credentials means it will be riding the crest of the technology curve perhaps until we give up disc formats altogether. And it's built to last a lifetime, or perhaps two. I am a reviewer in luuurve.

Impressive at weigh in

Weighing in heavier than many AV amplifiers, the A1UD is built on a triple-layer steel base-plate with an enormous power supply transformer positioned over one of the feet for the greatest stability.

The internals are divided into seven separate blocks to eliminate any potential cross-talk or interference between analogue, digital, audio and video signals.

Middle-front of the chunky fascia is the classy disc mechanism, the latest generation of Denon's SVH (Suppress Vibration Hybrid) drive. The slim metal drawer glides out with a slick authority and draws your disc back in to the mechanism's hermetically-sealed die-cast zinc housing.

Among the many features, the A1UD offers an innovative Restorer function for compressed audio. It's not in itself revolutionary, as many AV amps offer this for MP3/AAC music, but the Denon takes this a step further and has a multichannel Restorer function. This aims to elevate compressed Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks to near TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio quality.

Think of it as an audio upscaler for all your DVDs. While I don't usually hold much truck with audio jiggery-pokery of this ilk, the Restorer added a greater clarity and sparkle to the sound of almost every DVD I tried.

In fact, it is audio performance generally where the Denon bounds ahead of other universal players on the market. Packed full of die-hard audiophile grade components and offering such delights as 32bit/192kHz DACs and Denon's AL32 processing, this player sounds great.

The only head-scratching comes with trying to decide the best way to get your audio out of the beast – over jitter-reduced HDMI, over Cat5/6 cable with DenonLink 4th edition, by full 7.1 channel analogue phonos, optical or coaxial S/PDIF or the A1UD's fully-balanced XLR stereo outputs. Phew.

After much faffing around with cables and connections, I opted for DenonLink to my AVP-A1HD for most video discs and switched to the stunning balanced XLR outputs for CD playback.

And then there is the Denon's video abilities, which could easily make a whole review in themselves. Based on Silicon Optix's flagship HQV Realta processor, the Denon can handle the most intense BD-Live PiP applications while outputting over twin HDMIs and component video simultaneously.

The 1080p24 output is seamlessly smooth and if you want to go large with Cinemascope (2.35:1 ratio) films there is a v.stretch mode for use with anamorphic lenses or Philips' new 21:9 ratio screens.

If you are really looking to eke out the very best from your Blu-rays, you can send video only over one HDMI output straight to the projector or TV, and use the other output purely for audio direct to the amp. The result is awesome home cinema.