Setup
Setup could not be simpler. Press Menu, then Setup, and the DPS-8.3 moves automatically through the various setup functions that let you tell the player what kind of television and receiver or processor you have. The menus are not graphical, but they're easy to read, follow, and navigate.

Welcome additions are the speaker- and bass-management system. But they're riddled with restrictions and limitations. For one thing, the front left and right speakers can be designated only as Large, even though many systems, particularly those with a subwoofer, use small front speakers. In addition, the system limits the distance you can place the speakers from your seating area. For example, the center speaker and the subwoofer must be within about 6 feet of the left and right speakers, and additional limits are imposed for other speakers. These limits should not be problems for most people, but that won't be true for everyone. All distances are shown in feet in the setup menu, but they are specified in meters in the manual, which is inconvenient for American customers. All of this is explained poorly in a manual that could stand rewriting by a native speaker of English.

Nowhere does the setup menu tell you the bass crossover point. There's no mention of it in the instruction manual either—just this elliptical footnote: "When the subwoofer is set on, the low frequency effect signals are input from the subwoofer." Eric Harper, Integra product manager, said the crossover point is 80Hz, the THx standard. I did hear bass from my subwoofers, but I didn't get the impression that I was getting its full measure. In any case, Harper told me that bass management is implemented for DVDs and SACDs, but not for DVD-Audio. That, too, is mentioned nowhere in the manual or the onscreen menus. Another footnote states that the speaker-distance settings are not available for SACD recordings.

Altogether, these limitations and lapses represent serious failings—neither high-end format can take full advantage of the speaker-management system. All of this left me with the feeling that SACD, in particular, had been added hastily and incompletely to a predecessor product, the Integra DPS-7.2 DVD-Video/

Audio player. (To be fair, many of these limitations are imposed by the chips that Integra and other manufacturers use in their products, which means they are not exclusive to the DPS-8.3.)

The limitations on MP3 playback are equally arcane and confining. The manual says that files must be "MPEG1 Audio Layer 3 format, 44.1 or 48kHz, fixed bit-rate," with ".mp3" or ".MP3" file-name extensions. The instructions include 10 more paragraphs of requirements and limitations.

The extensive picture settings include Digital Noise Reduction, Fine Focus, Sharpness, White Level, Black Level, Tint, Chroma, and Gamma. The DPS-8.3 offers three different memory locations for global settings of these controls, as well as separate locations that hold different settings for 15 discs that are automatically called up each time one of the discs is played. The Pioneer DV-47A (reviewed in the June 2002 Guide) is the DPS-8.3's most direct competitor, and it, too can hold memory settings for 15 discs, while the Sony DVP-NS999ES (reviewed in the January 2003 issue) can hold settings for up to 300 discs. Each machine sells for $1200.

Continuing the comparison of these three players, the Pioneer provides no bass management at all. The Sony does, without limitation, but it doesn't support DVD-A. The latest version of the Pioneer, the DV-47Ai, includes a digital output for SACD and DVD-A signals, a highly desirable feature that obviates the need for separate bass and speaker management (not to mention a much simpler connection between the player and receiver). So far, this digital connection works only with some Pioneer receivers, such as the VSx-49Txi. [The bass management of the Marantz DV-8300 that I reviewed in the February 2003 issue appears to be a virtual clone of the Integra's.—TJN]

Performance
As I have for other reviews, I first listened to the CD layers of several hybrid SACDs, which permits near-direct comparison of the two renderings. The Integra DPS-8.3's playback of the CD layer of the Bob Mintzer Big Band's Homage to Count Basie (DMP SACD-12) was quite nice—smooth, with tight bass and a sparkling high end. The upper midrange was relatively smooth; CD's characteristic harshness was less pronounced than I have normally heard. I was thoroughly satisfied with the DPS-8.3's performance as a CD player. When I switched to the SACD layers, the music was immediately richer and more involving, but it had a bit of a rough edge that the best SACD players do not.