I have a dvd-2200 and have skip issues. At first it seemed it only happened with smudgey ir extremely cheap DVD's. Also, it would vibrate quite a bit , and loudly, when it started to skip. Cleaning the DVD thoroughly usually resolved the issue but not the noise, which I attributed to a cheap disc. Over time it got more sensitive and recently would not even start to play the disc "Babel" at all (a blockbuster rent, but a new disc in appearance, no smudge/scratch issue). This DVD played fine in all my other DVD players (6 others, standalone, CPU's and combo TV units).
Being out of warranty, I figured I had nothing to lose so I cracked the case open. I took apart the entire DVD mechanism to a point where it was 2 ribbon cables from being entirely apart from the electronics board. I didn't notice anything obvious, but, a few screws were factory tight (not loose) but not as tight as could be. These screws were the ones that held the metal DVD mechanism to other parts of the DVD mechanism. They were not covered with the blueish lock stuff on the heads. The only other odd thing I noticed was that the rubber ring where the DVD mechanism grabs the hub of the disc was a bit dirty. Water and a clean cloth rubbing outwards and spinning the ring cleaned it up nicely.
Put it all back together and it would now play Babel, but still skipped here and there, and the disc spin sound would get louder each time it was about to start skipping, and step down in sound and speed when it stopped skipping. I would theorize at this point that the laser may be slightly out of line (unit tries to compensate by spinning faster and re-reading before it loses frames?), and, the dirty hub was causing slippage which would cause further issues with the unit losing track and skipping or going "no play".
Anyway, it's back to "tolerable" but i'm looking at replacing it. Question is, can I get a Denon that won't have "no play" issues for under $1500? Or do I look elsewhere for better quality control, like my $75 unit apears to have?
I wouldn't say this if this unit and others near it (in number and era) that I have read about wasn't so problematic for so many people, but, why Denon never gets slapped with class actions over this is a mystery to me. They are in theory a high end system company, no? At least offer a trade-in or something to these lemon-ish systems if they want to keep brand loyalty. Esepcially when my $75 wal-mart system I have for the kids can play discs fine, and they were both bought at the same time (approx), and the kids system gets used about 3X more than the Denon does.
The Walmart unit has more slop built into the mechanisms and tolerates more inaccuracies in playback. If you can see or hear no difference between the two units, I would buy the less expensive model. Sooner or later all DVD & CD players become throw away items when they require repair.
There is of course a difference betwen the two models, the Denon is clearer picture wise, noisier, and skips. Unfortunately, having $630 worth of high quality separated electronic components doesnt mean much when the $20 mechanism to extract and process that info is sub-standard.
It's not just the Wal Mart player, it is all the other players ive tried it on. Among them, Pioneer,Sony, and an Apple computer. In fact one Sony is the oldest and not once has skipped, ever. It's just a bigger slap in the face that a slopped together system will actually play a movie with no skips, a general expectation of a DVD player. Dare I say, the 2200 was slopped together when it comes to the mechanism, unfortunately at 8X the price of the Wal mart special.
And i'm not one to expect a dvd 2xxx series player to junk out every 3 years or so. I'd generally expect it to last longer given the "quality" of the name. Cerrtinaly be less noisier and never skip.
Overall the 2200 was a nice unit, but it lacked total quality behind it. If I could, i'd pay for a good replacement mechanism and keep it forever. Unfortunately I could not get a part # or even a manufacturer part off the mechanism. I did find the following #'s:
53123000 ink stamped on it
c1p003B, c2p005c and c4p007f stamped in to the metal parts of the mechanism/casing.
3L09 0011 H6u1 1200 R N
the last 5 lines were on the bottom of the mechanism on a part.
Anyone have any ideas as to who made the mechanism and availability of a new replacement, or equivalent?