Limit 9900SE Review

Overall Rating

Picture quality, good range of connections, hackable! (Region free/Macrovision disable)Plays just about anything (and plays them very well)

Some noise from mechanism* when playing certain discs (mainly DVD) Tinny casing, especially the lid.

* See review for partial solution

After reading several reviews about this machine, and suffering a dreadful Harman/Kardon lifestyle system from Currys, I decided to take the criticisms of the 9900SE with a pinch of salt and make up my own mind.

First impressions were... well, not too keen on the brushed alloy front... but at least it's REAL metal, and not plastic! The drawer opened quietly, but there is a fair amount of sideways play in the drawer mechanism, which could be interpreted as being cheaply made.

Once a DVD was in and running, however, I could see straight away that the picture quality was very good. The blacks were... well, very black, and I could adjust the contrast, brightness, sharpness and colour to further tweak the image. Compared with the Harman/Kardon, the 9900SE has infinitely better picture quality.

I have tried VCD's (very good indeed!) Especially my "back-up" copy of Harry Potter! Photo CD's from Max Spielmann and Kodak work well too, with the ability to zoom and rotate images. There is also a slideshow feature.

The sound seems pretty good, too, which is presently being blasted through an Arcam Alpha 3 and Tannoy 607 speakers (much to the annoyance of the neighbours). OK, it's only stereo for now, but a surround kit is on it's way. Ordinary music CD's sound just as good as my £170 Philips CD player, so I might as well save space and sell that! Limit claim the machine will also play DVD-Audio, but I've not tried that yet.

Now the downside. Some DVD's must be made off-centre, because certain discs can cause a vibration in the unit. On one disc in particular, I could hear the throbbing from ten feet away, yet another was totally silent. The main issue seems to be the mounting of the motor unit which is a solid type, rather than a floating mechanism on more expensive machines. The situation was not helped by the casing design, which acts as a sounding board. This is where some DIY soundproofing came in.

*I found the noise could be muted considerably by using self-sdhesive acoustic mat (used on car body panels) on the inside of the casing lid, taking care to avoid the motor mechanism. The difference was quite marked, with the vibration effects being greatly reduced.

Nevertheless, if one finds some DVD discs are worse than others, TAKE THEM BACK and get another one! For almost 20 pounds a time, one should expect a disc which is at least "round"!

In conclusion, I am happy with the 9900SE. I have found a solution to the vibration issue, I don't get electric shocks, it plays everything I put in it, and it goes all the way through to the end of a film without stalling. And I can record on to my VCR if I feel daft enough. If the motor mechanism was a floating type, Limit could stick another £100 on the price and I'd still be happy.

PLEASE NOTE: I do not recommend the dismantling of any unit still under warranty, or in any case by persons not qualified to do so. Now you can't sue me. So there.