Panasonic DVD-RV32 DVD player. (Equipment).

Manufacturer: Panasonic Consumer Electronics, One Panasonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094; 800/211-7262

Price: $150

Source: Reviewer Purchase

Reviewer: Howard Ferstler

OK, this is a short (for me) review of a really good DVD player with a list price so low that it almost seems silly to review the thing at all. Indeed, this is as much a review of a budget-priced DVD player as it is an expose of low-priced, mainstream product technology and what that technology can do to unsettle sometimes-stuffy high-end attitudes.

Let's face some facts. Some very important A/ V products now have become ultra-mass-produced appliances of almost mysteriously high quality. The situation becomes even more outlandish when one remembers that a product like this will probably only be available for a few months, after which it will be replaced by something newer--and possibly cheaper, and at least as good. No wonder high-end, elite-product-oriented enthusiasts practically go apoplectic when they think of hardware like this.

Actually, I have not quite pushed the envelope far enough, because that $150 list price is actually more than you should pay. The Best Buy store in my town had the player on regular sale for $120. However, they recently sent me a preferred-customer card that promised 10% off any regular-priced item, and so I picked up the player for $108, plus sales tax. This was not a shopping-spree whim, by the way. I needed another player, so I took some money (literally, pocket change) down to the place and picked up the DVD-RV32.

OK, so what does this bottom-line player offer us? Well, for starters it can play the usual DVD video and standard compact discs. However, it can also play CD-R and CD-RW discs, as well as DVD-R discs that have been recorded and finalized on Panasonic DVD recorders. It can also play the DD and/or DTS tracks on DVD-A discs, although it cannot play the DVD-A tracks. This is no big deal in my book, because as best I have been able to ascertain the subjective differences between among three technologies are just not big enough to worry about.

On its backside the player has composite, S-Video, and component video outputs (no progressive-scan function, however), plus two-channel analog outputs and a fiber-optic digital-audio output for DD and DTS datastreams. It does not have a coaxial digital output, nor does it have an on-board decoder that would allow it to decode any kind of digital datastream internally. However, all in all, it can work just fine as a pretty mainstream DVD/CD player in a typical home A/V system.

One interesting rear-panel hookup is a subwoofer-out jack that can allow the user to hook up a sub directly to the player while using its regular left/right analog outputs. I really cannot see much use for this feature in the modern age, because most people who purchase DVD players have some kind of digital A/V receiver with the proper decoding. Receivers like that have on-board and proper subwoofer-out jacks, and having one on the player is basically gilding the lily. However, maybe some people could get some use out of it.

The front panel is loaded with goodies. In addition to the usual operational features (for example, stop, start, skip, angle change, random play, menu select, slow-scan, fast-scan, etc.), it has a sleep-memory function, a zoom feature that allows letterboxed movies to fill out a 4:3 ratio TV screen (not always functional, however), a feature that allows you to adjust picture brightness/contrast on the fly, and a nifty two-channel surround enhancement mode for those who are too cheap to purchase a surround-sound audio system. It even has a fast forward/backward scan knob that makes it easy to do that sort of thing without diddling with buttons on the panel or the remote. Don't laugh. It can come in handy.

The remote itself is pretty comprehensive, but it is on the smallish side, and many of the buttons are on the downright tiny side. Still, once you get the hang of it the thing is reasonably simple to use.

The manual is a typical, over-explained, underwritten Japanese-style appliance tome, even though it was printed in China. There are scads of little icons and aside comments visible as you thumb through the thing, and after a while your eyes just kind of roll back into your head as you try to figure out which instructions are relevant and which are fluff. However, once you get the hang of the basic functions (the device itself is very easy to set up, in contrast to many first, second, and third-generation players) you can go back into the manual and diddle with some of the more arcane functions.

The DVD-RV32 is about 17 inches wide, 9.75 inches deep, and is just under 3 inches high. This makes it ideal for situations where your equipment rack is nearly jammed-packed full and you only have space left for something not much thicker than a phone book. The player weighs in at a feather-light 5.3 pounds, was assembled in China by people who clearly knew what they were doing, and has a 1-year parts warranty and a 90-day labor warranty.

Details are out of the way at last. So, just how did this low-cost little jewel perform?

I did some video comparing with the $1,800 THX Ultra-certified Onkyo DV-S939 player I reviewed in Issue 86 and continue to use in my main system. Although the Onkyo had a slightly better picture, you had to look hard to spot any differences. Indeed, in a comparison like this you had better be using a large-screen set, because a smaller set, viewed at a normal distance, simply would not be able to award either player the prize.

I also compared the Panasonic's DVD performance to the DVD performance of the $1,200 Pioneer DVL-700 DVD/CD/LD player I reviewed in Issue 66 (it is installed in my main system along with the Onkyo player). In this case there was no contest: the little Panasonic walked off and left the Pioneer. Of course, that Pioneer contains a first-generation DVD player, and I mainly find use for it with my still existing collection of laserdiscs. In that respect the Pioneer is very good, indeed. However, it is no match for a modem DVD player in terms of DVD video performance.

In comparison with a Sony DVP-S360 player that I also use in my main system, the DVD-RV32 was easily a match, although the Sony had an edge when it came to dealing with anamorphic presentations that were converted to letterbox form for viewing on conventional 4:3 ratio sets. (Although it exhibited fewer conversion artifacts, a penalty for the Sony was a slightly softer image under those conditions.) In comparison to an older Panasonic DVD-A120 player that I use with my living-room system, the DVD-RV32 matched it nearly pixel for pixel.

Now, it is important to remember that those older Panasonic and Sony players used to list for twice the retail price that this newer player does. That Panasonic has been able to pull off this new technology for that kind of price reduction is incredible. And by the way, the fit and finish of the newer player is also every bit the equal of those two earlier players. Indeed, the drawer mechanism sounds more refined, and even rivals the Onkyo player for smooth-sounding operation.

In terms of audio performance with typical DVD video software, all the players, expensive and low-priced, sounded the same. Ditto with compact discs. There were simply no musically significant audible differences at all with normal program material.

My CD comparisons involved using identical discs playing on each player, with their signals sent to two different amp/preamp combinations. Each of those combinations had their own outputs sent to a switchbox that could route the results to a single pair of speakers. (The speakers used for this kind of procedure have varied, but the ones I have employed most recently are the Dunlavy Cantata models I reviewed in Issue 87.) This separate amp/ preamp arrangement has allowed me to do level matching and quick switching with relative ease, although it continues to be a pain in the ass to get the player speeds synchronized decently enough to compare with real precision.

Admittedly, those who believe that amplifiers have their own sonic signatures might object to this kind of comparison technique. However, unless each amp was able to compensate exactly for the deficiencies of the player it was working with, I rather doubt that my comparison arrangement was outrageously misleading.

Performance with defective or blemished program material was another matter. I gave the new player a try with the CD Check disc that I have used to check out the tracking abilities of a number of other players. Bob Thompson discussed this test disc in detail in issues 72 and 73 and I have used it in a few reports, and it is still available from Digital Recordings, in Canada, at the following web site address: http://www.digital-recordings.com/ (the stock number is DR-2002). I should note that the only test this disc offers is for error correction. It is not a general-purpose test disc.

The disc has five "check levels," and typically a good player should be able to smoothly deal with level two and three, and maybe level four. Level one is the minimum standard for any player that wants to be able to deal with discs that have only occasional, minor blemishes.

Over the past few months I have had all sorts of results with this disc. The Pioneer DVL-700 mentioned above handled level one just fine, but mistracked slightly on level two and got nowhere on the more difficult tracks. Ditto for Pioneer a DVL-503 LD/CD player that I have had for years and use in my middle system. (Remember, with regular musical program source material that was relatively unblemished these two players sounded as good as any of the others.) The Onkyo DV-S939 player that I mentioned previously could track level three, but began to mistrack on level four. The older Panasonic and Sony players I also mentioned previously could track to level four cleanly, but solidly mistracked on level five.

The DVD-RV32 player reviewed here could track out to level four cleanly and only slightly mistracked on level five. No other player I have worked with has been able to match this error-correcting performance.

So, to summarize, this Panasonic player is a marvel. In terms of compact disc audio performance and Dolby Digital and DTS performance I see no reason why it cannot hold its own with any DVD video or CD player available at any price. Its picture quality is fine and its user friendliness is quite good. My guess is that by the time you read this review the player will be formally discontinued. However, there will probably be lots of models on sale for some time after that. If you need a player of any kind (even if you never watch TV movies), seriously consider picking one up.

If no more are left when you drop by the store, purchase its replacement instead, because that replacement and any number of similarly priced competitive brands probably work just as well.

Welcome to the world of appliance audio.

--HF