Buyers Advice - Blu-ray player & HD receiver

[admin_exported]

Hello all,

I am looking to replace my complete home theater, and looking for some advice and feedback regarding a purchase decision.

I am wanting to purchase a Blu-ray player & compatible HD receiver, for aesthetic reasons I would like both components to be from the same manufacture (SONY, Onkyo, Cambridge Audio, etc.) The 2nd requirement that I would have is that the receiver be able to handle the HD audio formats - preferably over an HDMI 1.3a input.

If anyone has any advice on current or upcoming brands & models - I am really confused at this point on what to spend my money on.

Oh, and by the way ... for a strange and personal reason I would like to avoid the Denon brand (I just can't get over that church bulletin script that they use on the face of their products)

cheers & thanks

Jeff

 

[professorhat]

Well, I'm going to use my first post to try and dissuade you from your same manufacturer policy. The reason is, it rarely works out that the same manufacturer makes the best components in different genres, and after all, this is the point of separates. It allows you to choose the best components in each department and therefore get the best performance (assuming they work together well of course!). Otherwise, you could buy an all-in-one from the same manufacturer and get the benefits associated with that.

With that in mind, at the moment, until the latest kit is received and new reviews are made, at the moment, Onkyo makes the best HD receivers. It doesn't seem to matter which level you're interested in, they are the best (although, if you are thinking of the 605, I'd caution a wait until next week when, hopefully, the 606 will have been reviewed by the WHF team and we can see where this stands as well). The 875 and above aren't due to be replaced for a few months, so depends how long you can wait for them.

The next section demonstrates where the problem comes in for your Blu-Ray player. Onkyo don't make one! At the moment, with the appropriate Onkyo receiver decoding the signal, I'd advise the Panasonic DMP-BD30 player. If you are interested in gaming though, the PS3 is definitely worth a look as well (it's what I use).

I hope this helps!

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with the Prof. I have an Onkyo 905 and the Panasonic BD 30 and the combination is really impressive - absolutely fantastic sound and picture. Just got an InFocus In82 full HD projector and the 90" wide pic is amazingly sharp. When I got the projector I had the option of buying a Playstation 3 for about £50 as part of the package, so I bought it. Just rigged it up last night and had a look at some of Rataouille Blu Ray - it was also stunning and on a quick viewing, and not being able to compare side by side there doesn't appear to me to be any great difference in picture quality, though of course the BD 30 can handle all the High Def sound which does make a difference. I'd certainly be happy with either picture. And the Onkyo really upscales brilliantly - even normal Sky channels are very good on the big screen.

 

[professorhat]

NB - PS3 is now able to decode all the major HD sound formats onboard as well due to a firmware upgrade last week. Just so you know!