Arcam DV79 v Sony BDP-S500ES with Sony STR-DA5400ES

[psurquhart]

Help please.

Having just aquired a Sony STR-DA5400ES from Flea Bay - £442 bargain - have a few questions.

I presently have an Arcam DV79 DVD/CD player which has been superb using it as both a Dvd player but also as a dedicated CD player through my soon to be sold old Denon AVR 3803 amp.

I am now going to purchase a Blu Ray player but want it to be able to spin CD's on par with the sound from my old set up. My dilema now is wether a Sony BDP-S500ES will better the Arcam for CD playback ( and hopefully recoup a little money by selling it ) or to keep the Arcam as my CD source and buy a cheaper Blu Ray player ? Was pondering a cheaper Sony model or similar and save a load of dosh.

What do you think ?

Speakers are PMC GB1 front and rear, PMC DB1 centre and Mission Freedom 752 rears if that helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, I have not had any experience with the Arcam DV79.

However, I have owned several Blu-ray Disc Players and I have owned and been using my Sony BDP-S5000ES Blu-ray Disc Player for over 1 1/2 years.

It is comfortably the best-sounding Blu-ray Disc Player I have owned. For CD playback, I can assure you that it is very good.

The only thing I dislike about the Sony BDP-S5000ES for CD playback is that, unlike dedicated CD Players, the Sony BDP-S5000ES does not allow you to key in a particular track that you want. For example, if you put a CD into it, and would like to play song track number 6, you cannot simply key in "6". You will have to push the play button on the remote then push next five times until you reach track number 6.

Dan.

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

The 5000es is at the very least a match for the DV79 on CD. I would expect the DVD playback to be better. IIRC there is an HDMI sync facilty ( much like Pioneer's PQLS) with the two Sony machines.