£600-£800 Blu Ray player help??????

[scoobysteve]

 

[scoobysteve]

Hi 1st post went wrong somewhere sorry.

I have £600-£800 to spend on a Blu ray player.

Been looking at Cambridge audio 650 and 751, Marantz 7006, Oppo 93.

My system is Panasonic 50" GT30 with a Yamaha YP2200 sound bar.

Would I notice any difference between the 650 and 751 also same for the 95 and 93 Oppo?

regards Steve.

 

[John Duncan]

Cambridge Audio 751BD...

 

[John Duncan]

Aha, there's an actual question now. I have a 751BD in the house and, whilst you should take your own view of BD image quality over lesser players, it has great upscaling and sounds very good indeed as a music player, if that matters to you. Pricey though.

 

[scoobysteve]

The thing I was concerned about was would I be wasting money by going for the 751 over the 650 as I have been told the the main difference between the two is the audio out but as I just have a soundbar which is HDMI in I wouldnt be using the audio outs on the Cambridge 751 or the Oppo 95??

 

[John Duncan]

In which case you may have a point - i think the 751 is being touted as majoring on audio quality over analogue, though i can't comment as don't have an hdmi receiver.

Note that the 650 is as good as unavailable now and i hear the 651's not in the shops yet.

What's the rest of your setup? EDIT - sorry, seen it. Is this just for bluray or lots of DVDs as well? If the latter the upscaling may be the key.

 

[scoobysteve]

Its just a 50" Panasonic GT30, Sky HD and the Yamaha YSP2200 soundbar, all I want now is a good Bluray player with excellent picture??

 

[scoobysteve]

Its going to be for Blu Ray discs only.

 

[bigboss]

I would strongly recommend you to audition a few players before buying one. Based on your requirements, you may find that a cheaper player is just as good as an expensive one. I didn't find any difference in blu-ray picture quality between PS3, Panasonic BD60 & Denon 2500BT, although some members have claimed to find differences.

Anyway, for your budget, look at the Oppo 93 & Denon's 1611UD & 2012UD Even Marantz UD5005 & 7006 are worth auditioning.

 

[scoobysteve]

Is there an overall opinion on what player does give the best picture?

Would I notice the difference on my 50" Panasonic GT30 or do you only start to see these differences on projectors?

If there is no difference in picture quality in between expensive Blu ray players and a PS3 whats the point in getting one???

 

[bigboss]

There's a greater difference in DVD upscaling & audio performance between players at different price points as compared to blu-ray picture performance. Based on your requirements, DVD & audio performance doesn't appear to be that important to you. Audition the players yourself & see what you think. Especially check fast motion & dark scenes.

 

[strapped for cash]

I agree with bigboss. Unless you plan to upgrade to a full surround set up to take advantage of lossless audio, and to use this set up for music as well as movies, players at the price point you mention might be overkill.

Audition a range of players at different price points (I'd even look at budget decks). You might save yourself a lot of money!

 

[manicm]

In which case you may have a point - i think the 751 is being touted as majoring on audio quality over analogue, though i can't comment as don't have an hdmi receiver. Note that the 650 is as good as unavailable now and i hear the 651's not in the shops yet. What's the rest of your setup? EDIT - sorry, seen it. Is this just for bluray or lots of DVDs as well? If the latter the upscaling may be the key.

Indeed, the other UK mag high on globes said they couldn't find a significant improvement in picture quality of the 751 over the 650, apart from motion handling - which is what you noticed as well.

That said, picture quality is high on my agenda, and if I'm not suitably impressed here for Blu-rays I may well swap it for the Marantz - not as versatile but hell does thing look fab - seen one in black.

But I hope it doesn't come to that, as the CA's so damn versatile - I can hide the USB drive at the back for my music, and heck the thing plays HDCDs as well. Also, in a youtube promo video CA hinted that they'll release an iOS app to control it, so you don't have to switch the telly on to play music off USB, network etc.

So I'm holding thumbs, cos this has got to be the last source av component I buy for the next 5 years at least if not more.

PS. The globular mag didn't rate the CA as a great CD player - but hell I do not want to pop them in anymore.

 

[John Duncan]

Neither do I, but if anybody needs a player that does it all (including UPnP, if slightly dodgily on my first attempt), this is it.

 

[Patrick Riggs]

The CA 751 BD is a marvellous machine. And it can play the Star Wars Blu-rays as well, which seems to be an issue for some machines. If you want an investment in the future...

 

[bigboss]

Even my Panasonic BD60 plays Star Wars well. It really depends on the frequency of firmware updates the manufacturer issues (although my Pana did not require any update to play Star Wars).

 

[professorhat]

Even my Panasonic BD60 plays Star Wars well. It really depends on the frequency of firmware updates the manufacturer issues (although my Pana did not require any update to play Star Wars).

Nor did my Marantz BD7004. The only player which I've seen can't play them is the Pioneer BDP-51FD.

 

[v1c]

The only player which I've seen can't play them is the Pioneer BDP-51FD.

[/quote]

Is that 100% factual information ..... so if i go to blockbuster and rent star wars not going to play ??? that would be the first one i've ever had not play ?

 

[professorhat]

Is that 100% factual information ..... so if i go to blockbuster and rent star wars not going to play ??? that would be the first one i've ever had not play ?

Just what I got from this thread.

 

[scoobysteve]

So do we have a decision on what player will give the best picture for my budget?

 

[John Duncan]

Get the Cambridge 651BD when it's available...

 

[BenLaw]

So do we have a decision on what player will give the best picture for my budget?

I doubt you'll get unanimity on this, and I doubt you'll get views from many people who have experience of more than one of the BDPs, let alone all of them (there are also contenders from Yamaha and Onkyo to consider). Are you not able to demo them? I know not at the same shop, but probably with your TV. Then you could let all of us know what the differences are

 

[scoobysteve]

It's just a nightmare trying to find the best one for the money as there are so many out there, with different reviews from different magazines saying different things doesnt help matters.

Also just read the review of the Denon 2012 which looks a lovely machine.

To make matters worse i hear the picture is the same on all blu ray players as its digital so just get a PS3!!!

Dont really believe this to be honest, but what do I know.

Wish there was some sort of reviews that where purely technical that measured the blu ray players electronically and not by eye so you could actually see figures to help you decide.

 

[BenLaw]

Well, there are places that have more technical reviews than WHF, but probably no single source with as wide a range of reviews (and even then WHF haven't reviewed all these higher end players).

Your point is right: no one place is going to tell you which is the best. Nor are you going to get the answer you seek on a forum, simply because people haven't looked at all the options. And no-one on here has performed technical tests. And even if you got a reply from someone who had demoed all these BDPs you'd just get their subjective view of which is best. All of which is why I recommend you demo as many as you want to yourself - and then let us know your subjective opinion!

 

[manicm]

Ok, got my speakers back and connected the CA 751BD. Pictures and CD replay are really impressive. Strangely though, movie sound, in stereo at least, leaves a little to be desired. There is a note on the box that says to allow 36 hours of continuous play warm-up. I'll keep fingers crossed. Oh, the remote's a bit flimsy too.