HD Sound

[admin_exported]

I am about to take the plunge and buy a Blue Ray player, and I was looking at Sony BDP-S350, Panasonic DMP-BD35, but I am getting confused. My AV Tuner is a Cambridge Audio 640R, which does not support/decode HD Audio. I had assumed that using an optical or coax connection would result in adequate sound but read in this months issue's Sound Advice that the suggestion is to buy a player with multichanel anologue output, say Panasonic DMP-BD55.

This morning I have been on line doing some research on the BD55 only to find that it has been dropped from Panasonic's web site. A quick phone call established that it has been discontinued and the replacement is a couple of months away.

Questions:

1) Do I need to go to the extra expense of the BD55?

2) Should I track one down or wait for the replacement, which may be more expensive?

3) Does anybody do a reasonably priced 7.1 anologue interconnect, or does one buy seven and a half stereo ones?

 

[Andrew Everard]

1) Yes. Or if you can't find a BD55, you could consider a Sony BDP-S550 instead.

2) Not sure - as yet no prices announced for any new Panasonic machines, but the price trend on Japanese products does seem to be upwards.

3) Not seven and a half stereo ones, but four stereo sets, making a total of eight channels. Chord Crimson is a good value for money choice, or you could stick with Cambridge Audio and buy its Arctic interconnects.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Andrew, I'll get on the phone