Can I connect a Blu Ray Player to my Denon DHT500SD home cinema system

[admin_exported]

I am thinking of upgrading to a blu-ray player (and am currently considering either the Sony BDPS350 or BDPS550). However, I get good use out of my current reliable dvd system - the highly recommended Denon DHT500SD. I'm not very technical and was wondering whether it would be possible to connect the blu-ray player to my existing Denon system to take advantage of its speakers and audio output, rather than having to purchase a separate amp and speakers (I'm restricted in my budget). Is this possible or practical? And if so, I wondered whether there were any recommendations on obtaining the best connection? Apologies for my lack of awareness, I just don't want to consign my Denon system to the loft if I can still get use out its speakers with a new blu ray player. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes you can, using either optical or electrical digital, or analogue stereo interconnects. But you won't be able to use the HD soundtracks on BD discs - only the standard Dolby Digital/DTS stuff - and of course you'll have to connect the BD player to your TV separately for video.

 

[Grot Shot]

This was exactly how my system was until last week when I bought a new amp and speakers.

I had a Sony BDP350 connected to Sony 40W4000 TV with HDMI and connected to the Denon 500SD via the Coaxial Digital socket. All worked fine . . . However !!!

The quality of sound from a BD film was rubbish. I did a direct DVD/BD comparison with Batman Begins and the BD disc had no oomph to it at all. The DVD version sounded way better when played in the Denon or in the BD player. I can only assume that the DD5.1 version of the soundtrack on the BD is of a very poor quality.

 

[Liam19]

Grot Shot:
This was exactly how my system was until last week when I bought a new amp and speakers.

I had a Sony BDP350 connected to Sony 40W4000 TV with HDMI and connected to the Denon 500SD via the Coaxial Digital socket. All worked fine . . . However !!!

The quality of sound from a BD film was rubbish. I did a direct DVD/BD comparison with Batman Begins and the BD disc had no oomph to it at all. The DVD version sounded way better when played in the Denon or in the BD player. I can only assume that the DD5.1 version of the soundtrack on the BD is of a very poor quality.

Odd you should say that, since the Batman Begins BD has a 640kbps Dolby Digital track whereas the DVD is restricted to 448kbps due to capacity limitations. Therefore, the BD's soundtrack is technically better than the DVD's, although I can't say I've done a direct BD/DVD comparison. All I can say is that I was impressed by the film's standard DD track on Blu-ray - I can only imagine how much better the DTHD track must be.

 

[Anonymous]

I have been following this thread, as I want to connect a Blu-Ray player (Sony BDP-S360) via my Denon DHT-500SD home cinema system. Following the advice in this thread, I have connected the video output from the blu-ray player direct to my TV (via the HDMI slot) and connected the blu-ray player to the denon DVD player via the optical slot. On the blu-ray setup I choose the audio output as the optical slot.However, even with this configuration, I still only get audio output from the TV and not via the Denon surround sound. Would be grateful of any assistance anyone can offer