gel said:
There are very few left now. You could try Leicester and Oxford branches, as they still have stock. Technically stock can't be transferred between stores, but they might deliver if you ask nicely. It'd save you travelling.
Alternatively, the Milton Keynes branch has one 751BD left, if you want to push the boat out. I considered the 751, but it doesn't give me anything extra that I want or need. I'll stick with my dedicated CDP for analogue stereo duties, since it's arguably my favourite system component. The 651 will be used strictly as a transport with Blu-rays, though I'll engage Marvell processing to upscale DVDs.
If I were you, I'd spend the money on a professional calibration. You'll receive a far more significant upgrade than spending the same amount on a BDP. Just a thought...
strapped for cash said:gel said:
There are very few left now. You could try Leicester and Oxford branches, as they still have stock. Technically stock can't be transferred between stores, but they might deliver if you ask nicely. It'd save you travelling.
Alternatively, the Milton Keynes branch has one 751BD left, if you want to push the boat out. I considered the 751, but it doesn't give me anything extra that I want or need. I'll stick with my dedicated CDP for analogue stereo duties, since it's arguably my favourite system component. The 651 will be used strictly as a transport with Blu-rays, though I'll engage Marvell processing to upscale DVDs.
If I were you, I'd spend the money on a professional calibration. You'll receive a far more significant upgrade than spending the same amount on a BDP. Just a thought...
I thought the Milton Keynes branch had sold out of both! I will have to have a think again, and might give them a call.
I can't convince anyone that calibration might be worthwhile. It seems people would rather spend their money on anything but...
strapped for cash said:I can't convince anyone that calibration might be worthwhile. It seems people would rather spend their money on anything but...
I don't trust TVs.
gel said:I don't trust TVs.
A fair point from a Panasonic plasma owner.
There are no guarantees, but if your GT50 shows no sign of bad behaviour, you'd be on pretty safe ground. Even if your GT50 died six months after calibration, it'd be £200 well spent in my view.
With all the problems I've had recently with TVs, I felt a little anxious, but I was intrigued enough to live dangerously.
strapped for cash said:gel said:I don't trust TVs.
A fair point from a Panasonic plasma owner.
There are no guarantees, but if your GT50 shows no sign of bad behaviour, you'd be on pretty safe ground. Even if your GT50 died six months after calibration, it'd be £200 well spent in my view.
With all the problems I've had recently with TVs, I felt a little anxious, but I was intrigued enough to live dangerously.
You did really surprise me when you said you were having it done. Yep, my GT50 has been really solid, just a slight bit of image retention which I should get rid of sometime. I am not 100 per cent sure on how to do it though, I will have to check the manual. Just seems like a lot of money when I still go wow at the picture even now, on a daily basis!
Gel if you think its good now - wait until you see it calibrated mate -- its a completey different ball game - especially 3D!!! I cant stress that enough, 3D out of the box is horrifically bad, but can be jaw dropping good.
Add the Marantz in there and you are talking mate
Add the Marantz in there and you are talking mate
BigH
Well-known member
I went to buy a 651 at Richers at Watford, 1 was ex-display and came with nothing else and the other was a return, again with no remote etc, just the box, anyway neither would work, so I did not buy them. All the 651s are ex-demo/display or returns it seems now. WIth Blu-Ray audio coming out this could be a good player to buy the 751 is better if you don't already have an external DAC.
strapped for cash said:
As the proud owner of the corres[onding CA AV Amp I would be very interested to hear what you think of your new purchase, especially for me as it would be used gor all it capable duties, CD< DVD & BR, please keep us posted and best of luck...
ellisdj said:Gel if you think its good now - wait until you see it calibrated mate -- its a completey different ball game - especially 3D!!! I cant stress that enough, 3D out of the box is horrifically bad, but can be jaw dropping good.
Add the Marantz in there and you are talking mate
Yep, I have been following your threads, and Titanic 3D sounds good!
Titanic is a terrible film, in 2D and 3D (if not quite as awful as Avatar). That said, the 3D conversion is extremely well done.
And that's perhaps the biggest problem with 3D. However technically accomplished, most 3D movies are embarrasingly bad at the level of narrative, character, and dialogue.
And that's perhaps the biggest problem with 3D. However technically accomplished, most 3D movies are embarrasingly bad at the level of narrative, character, and dialogue.
See I disagree with you there for both films - they are both master pieces in their own right and damn good films.
I cant see whats not to like - both have good characters, very well acted with excellent scripts and a huge amount of imagination and effort to bring the stories to life. Both I suppose have simple plots - but to me that what makes them special - every ounce of thought has gone in to making that simple story magical
I have always liked Titanic - saw it at the pictures, I havent seen the 2D blu ray yet but after seeing it in 3D I dont think I could watch it in 2D.
Avatar I have watched all the way through probs 10 times, and watched sections of it on demo far more times but I never get bored of watching it as its so impressive. It also gets better every time my kit does.
I cant see whats not to like - both have good characters, very well acted with excellent scripts and a huge amount of imagination and effort to bring the stories to life. Both I suppose have simple plots - but to me that what makes them special - every ounce of thought has gone in to making that simple story magical
I have always liked Titanic - saw it at the pictures, I havent seen the 2D blu ray yet but after seeing it in 3D I dont think I could watch it in 2D.
Avatar I have watched all the way through probs 10 times, and watched sections of it on demo far more times but I never get bored of watching it as its so impressive. It also gets better every time my kit does.
pioneer7
Well-known member
pioneer7 said:
I'll be interested to hear what you think after testing the player with a range of content.
pioneer7
Well-known member
Indeed looking forward to that, I think with this player at the price it can be had for, there is more to it than just the upscaling, which seems to be your main interest, I understand where you are coming from in terms of spending £300 over your current player, but there are other aspects as well, the build qaulity alone is first class, universal playback I have a few SACD Discs floating around some where, although this might not be your cup of tea, it is there so you could try it, I think you would be very impressed, then the play back of normal CDs again very good, then the upscaling which I am not really interested in but from others is excellent, Ok it might not be the best looking machine but who cares, so over all you are getting a lot of extras and quality for an excellent price, but like I said before the good thing is you are able to dem at home, so no matter what any one says only you will know if it is worth the outlay. If you can get hold of a SACD it would be well worth a listen, you might even like it. 8)
pioneer7 said:
For regular CD playback, I think the 651 is unlikely to best my Teac PD-H600, but I'll happily give a few SACDs a spin.
For me, it's all about upscaling and the 651 is the cheapest BDP available with Marvell processing. We all have different priorities, though the 651 should cover most users' needs.
pioneer7
Well-known member
Alright Strapped
Have you received your player yet, if so we are waiting with anticipation for your first thoughts, so spill the beans...PALEEEEZE. 8)
Have you received your player yet, if so we are waiting with anticipation for your first thoughts, so spill the beans...PALEEEEZE. 8)
Well, there are good and not so good things to report.
DVD upscaling is excellent. The 651 beats my Panasonic 120 in this regard. The difference is perhaps not as pronounced as I'd hoped, but the Marvell chip definitely does a better job of processing SD content.
I'm using the BDP as a transport with 1080p content. Images look lovely and the 651 performs as expected.
3D playback is interesting. I think there's some subtle processing going on, as evidenced by A/B comparisons and the absence of picture tweaks when playing 3D discs. You can't select source direct when playing 3D Blu-rays, either, so any processing can't be bypassed.
There's a really nice sequence in IMAX Hubble 3D that slowly pans through a "star nursery." I thought a few subtle details were missing when watching this sequence through the 651. On the other hand, the 651 made the 3D image seem a little smoother and more natural.
Build quality is very good, but the CA isn't as tank-like as my old Denon DVD2500BT. The 651's remote also feels a bit cheap, while the layout defies all logic. The remote buttons squeak when pressed, too.
In other words, the jury's still out and further deliberation is needed.
DVD upscaling is excellent. The 651 beats my Panasonic 120 in this regard. The difference is perhaps not as pronounced as I'd hoped, but the Marvell chip definitely does a better job of processing SD content.
I'm using the BDP as a transport with 1080p content. Images look lovely and the 651 performs as expected.
3D playback is interesting. I think there's some subtle processing going on, as evidenced by A/B comparisons and the absence of picture tweaks when playing 3D discs. You can't select source direct when playing 3D Blu-rays, either, so any processing can't be bypassed.
There's a really nice sequence in IMAX Hubble 3D that slowly pans through a "star nursery." I thought a few subtle details were missing when watching this sequence through the 651. On the other hand, the 651 made the 3D image seem a little smoother and more natural.
Build quality is very good, but the CA isn't as tank-like as my old Denon DVD2500BT. The 651's remote also feels a bit cheap, while the layout defies all logic. The remote buttons squeak when pressed, too.
In other words, the jury's still out and further deliberation is needed.
pioneer7
Well-known member
OK sounds promising seems there are more positives than negatives, but yes as you say these things take time to ajust to... 8)
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