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It's not like Denon to sell on price, well, not a low one anyway. From the company that brought us the £13,000 AVP-A1HD AV pre-power amplifier system comes its latest 'affordable', fully-featured, Profile 2.0 budget-busting Blu-ray player, the DBP-1610.
Unfortunately, at £400 it costs the same as two PlayStation 3s. Is it twice as good as said gaming console box-of-tricks? Not if you want top-notch game-play, websurfing and an occasional movie in passable quality.
On the other hand, if you want smooth-as-silk pictures and high-quality cinema sound with every Blu-ray or DVD you play, then it's game over for the PS3.
The DBP-1610 is a barnstorming Blu-ray disc-spinner packing in high-quality DVD upscaling, DivX HD and AVCHD support, and a front SD card slot for BD-Live material. There's decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA audio formats, but this is only output over HDMI and not analogue 5.1 outputs – if you have a non-HDMI amp this isn't the baby for you.
The Ethernet connection also allows over-air firmware updates, which our sample needed and executed with consummate ease.
Denon-esque touches that elevate this player above the mainstream include independent block design to separate critical audio and video signals from RF-noise-generating devices like the power supply, and 24bit/192KHz DACs. You also get an independent analogue stereo output, fed from sassy Burr-Brown audiophile DACs should you have a high-fidelity musical inclination.
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