My Pioneer BDP-LX55 Blu-ray Player Review

[Deleted member 2457]

Picked up a Pioneer BDP-LX55 Blu-ray player today from my local home cinema shop Technosound. Just been spinning a few discs and everything is working great. It reminds me of my Pioneer BDP-LX71 a lot. The picture is very similar, much better than the Pioneer BDP-LX52. Nice to see Pioneer producing good Blu-ray players again. DVD looks really nice too.

The sound quality is marginally better on the Pioneer 71 but if you turn it up a couple more it sounds about the same. I wanted an extra Blu-ray player and I paid £249 and got a two year warranty, so not bad. The shop adviced me on how to set it up correct too.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I will go into a bit more detail later.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I think I will just say no glitches either, everything has played great. A bit more here about that:

http://www.stuff.tv/pioneer/pioneer-bdp-lx55/review

As you will see all discs play fine. Pictures to come...

 

[strapped for cash]

Glad it's all working out mate.

How's the 55 in terms of operating noise and upscaling?

 

[bigboss]

:cheers:

 

[bigboss]

I think I will just say no glitches either, everything has played great. A bit more here about that:

http://www.stuff.tv/pioneer/pioneer-bdp-lx55/review

As you will see all discs play fine. Pictures to come...

Doesn't say much there......simply links to WHF review. :?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Glad it's all working out mate.

How's the 55 in terms of operating noise and upscaling?

Cheers mate.

Operating noise you hear a little when it starts up and is loading but when I play the discs no noise so far. I will have another listen later. Upcsaling looks good to me, you mean with DVDs? I tried Mysterious Cities of Gold DVDs and they played great. Picture was really good, there is only subtle little difference hear and then between the Pioneer 71. No major differences, I suppose this plays 3D Blu-rays too.

I prefer this Pioneer to other manufacturers and I have tried Sony, Denon and Cambridge Audio but I think this is on par with the Pioneer 71, and these are definitely my favourite Blu-ray players. I would not spend anymore on a Blu-ray player now, and I should be done now anyway. I like the look and build of it, it is not as big as my 71 but still quite well made. Pictures here:

I am just about to spin some more Blu-rays now.

The Panasonic VT65 looked very nice again in the shop! You are very lucky mate.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I think I will just say no glitches either, everything has played great. A bit more here about that:

http://www.stuff.tv/pioneer/pioneer-bdp-lx55/review

As you will see all discs play fine. Pictures to come...

Doesn't say much there......simply links to WHF review. :?

Yep, but just says it plays fine, which it does.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

:cheers:

Cheers mate.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Motion is very good, colours excellent deep blacks with bright colours. Operation quiet when I just checked. Picture very clear. These were the instructions when I got it:

1. HDMI - Switch on deep colour 36 Bit

2. HDMI - Switch on 24fps - already on though.

3. HDMI - Switch HDMI audio to bitstream. Done.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

One last thing it is quick to load discs too. I think I might look into 3D glasses to check it out sometime but not 100 per cent decided upon that. :?

 

[bigboss]

3. HDMI - Switch HDMI audio to bitstream. Done.

Try with getting the LX55 to decode audio & see if the player is an improvement over your AV receiver.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

3. HDMI - Switch HDMI audio to bitstream. Done.

Try with getting the LX55 to decode audio & see if the player is an improvement over your AV receiver.

That's an idea.

Will do, probably tomorrow now. Cheers.

 

[strapped for cash]

The Panasonic VT65 looked very nice again in the shop! You are very lucky mate.

Well, nothing's perfect.

There are a few niggles in terms of screen uniformity. As I think I mentioned before, there's a very mild cyan tint toward the left edge of the screen. (I'm not the only 2013 Panasonic plasma owner to spot this.) As I say, it's very mild, and doesn't seem to blight normal viewing. There are also two subtle vertical shadows that are occasionally visible during panning shots on light backgrounds. The shadows are located precisely where the VESA mount attachments are, so I'm guessing the two supports that carry the TV's weight are occasionally interfering with the panel's light output.

These issues don't compare with the problems I experienced with all GT50s I cycled through. Overall, the VT65 is an excellent TV and I can't think of an alternative I'd want to replace it with. I just wish Panasonic could manufacture TVs with perfect (rather than excellent) screen uniformity.

 

[strapped for cash]

3. HDMI - Switch HDMI audio to bitstream. Done.

Try with getting the LX55 to decode audio & see if the player is an improvement over your AV receiver.

That's an idea.

Will do, probably tomorrow now. Cheers.

It's always worth an experiment. I'm yet to notice an appreciable difference switching between Bitstream and PCM on any BDP.

At some point I'll connect my 651 to my receiver via the muti-channnel analogue outputs. I'm not convinced this will have a profound influence on the sound produced, either, but I might as well try all permutations.

 

[strapped for cash]

Of course this thread isn't about my kit; so I'll get back on topic. Let us know how you get on with your audio output experiments.

It's also probably worth switching between output resolutions to see if the LX55 does a better job of upscaling than your GT50.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

The Panasonic VT65 looked very nice again in the shop! You are very lucky mate.

Well, nothing's perfect.

There are a few niggles in terms of screen uniformity. As I think I mentioned before, there's a very mild cyan tint toward the left edge of the screen. (I'm not the only 2013 Panasonic plasma owner to spot this.) As I say, it's very mild, and doesn't seem to blight normal viewing. There are also two subtle vertical shadows that are occasionally visible during panning shots on light backgrounds. The shadows are located precisely where the VESA mount attachments are, so I'm guessing the two supports that carry the TV's weight are occasionally interfering with the panel's light output.

These issues don't compare with the problems I experienced with all GT50s I cycled through. Overall, the VT65 is an excellent TV and I can't think of an alternative I'd want to replace it with. I just wish Panasonic could manufacture TVs with perfect (rather than excellent) screen uniformity.

It should really be perfect for you mate. I don't know what to suggest. The one in the shop looked great, as did the VT50 next to it. It is a pity I can't see it. I don't think I could live with it not being perfect, it would get on my nerves. I have read about some people being unhappy too, if that did happen I would swap it.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Of course this thread isn't about my kit; so I'll get back on topic. Let us know how you get on with your audio output experiments.

It's also probably worth switching between output resolutions to see if the LX55 does a better job of upscaling than your GT50.

Will do.

 

[strapped for cash]

The Panasonic VT65 looked very nice again in the shop! You are very lucky mate.

Well, nothing's perfect.

There are a few niggles in terms of screen uniformity. As I think I mentioned before, there's a very mild cyan tint toward the left edge of the screen. (I'm not the only 2013 Panasonic plasma owner to spot this.) As I say, it's very mild, and doesn't seem to blight normal viewing. There are also two subtle vertical shadows that are occasionally visible during panning shots on light backgrounds. The shadows are located precisely where the VESA mount attachments are, so I'm guessing the two supports that carry the TV's weight are occasionally interfering with the panel's light output.

These issues don't compare with the problems I experienced with all GT50s I cycled through. Overall, the VT65 is an excellent TV and I can't think of an alternative I'd want to replace it with. I just wish Panasonic could manufacture TVs with perfect (rather than excellent) screen uniformity.

It should really be perfect for you mate. I don't know what to suggest. The one in the shop looked great, as did the VT50 next to it. It is a pity I can't see it. I don't think I could live with it not being perfect, it would get on my nerves. I have read about some people being unhappy too, if that did happen I would swap it.

The VESA mount shadows are visible on every VT65 manufactured, so swapping will do no good. I don't think I'll get a perfectly uniform screen after swapping, either. I'm pickier than the average TV owner. I doubt many would notice these issues and, as I say, I can't think of an alternative model I'd want. All flatscreen TVs have flaws. You simply have to pick a set with issues that bother you least.

If things get worse I'll think about swapping. Any current issues are small enough that I'm willing to give the TV time to really settle in.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Hi Strapped, if I was to buy a pair of 3D glasses for the GT50 what would you recommend? Cheers.

 

[mattjax05]

Picked up a Pioneer BDP-LX55 Blu-ray player today from my local home cinema shop Technosound. Just been spinning a few discs and everything is working great. It reminds me of my Pioneer BDP-LX71 a lot. The picture is very similar, much better than the Pioneer BDP-LX52. Nice to see Pioneer producing good Blu-ray players again. DVD looks really nice too.

The sound quality is marginally better on the Pioneer 71 but if you turn it up a couple more it sounds about the same. I wanted an extra Blu-ray player and I paid £249 and got a two year warranty, so not bad. The shop adviced me on how to set it up correct too.

Nice one. You don't rate the LX52 then? I have this player and like it and I've just bought a cheap 3D spinner (Sony S490) and using them both. I may, in the near future, flog them both for a one box 2D/3D player - maybe an LX55. Is that a Pioner thoroughbred?

 

[mattjax05]

Hi Strapped, if I was to buy a pair of 3D glasses for the GT50 what would you recommend? Cheers.

I use some Samsung ones and although they sync up perfectly there is noticeable flicker from the far left and right side of the lenses during daylight viewing. Night time is perfect however. Would you like the model no.?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Picked up a Pioneer BDP-LX55 Blu-ray player today from my local home cinema shop Technosound. Just been spinning a few discs and everything is working great. It reminds me of my Pioneer BDP-LX71 a lot. The picture is very similar, much better than the Pioneer BDP-LX52. Nice to see Pioneer producing good Blu-ray players again. DVD looks really nice too.

The sound quality is marginally better on the Pioneer 71 but if you turn it up a couple more it sounds about the same. I wanted an extra Blu-ray player and I paid £249 and got a two year warranty, so not bad. The shop adviced me on how to set it up correct too.

Nice one. You don't rate the LX52 then? I have this player and like it and I've just bought a cheap 3D spinner (Sony S490) and using them both. I may, in the near future, flog them both for a one box 2D/3D player - maybe an LX55. Is that a Pioner thoroughbred?

Not really sorry no. Yep, the Pioneer 55 is Pioneer through and through. I rate it very highly, and would say a good upgrade over a 52.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Hi Strapped, if I was to buy a pair of 3D glasses for the GT50 what would you recommend? Cheers.

I use some Samsung ones and although they sync up perfectly there is noticeable flicker from the far left and right side of the lenses during daylight viewing. Night time is perfect however. Would you like the model no.?

Yep, please. Cheers. I am not sure which ones to purchase. Probably look around for the best price.

 

[mattjax05]

Hi Strapped, if I was to buy a pair of 3D glasses for the GT50 what would you recommend? Cheers.

I use some Samsung ones and although they sync up perfectly there is noticeable flicker from the far left and right side of the lenses during daylight viewing. Night time is perfect however. Would you like the model no.?

Yep, please. Cheers. I am not sure which ones to purchase. Probably look around for the best price.

SSG-5100GB. Much cheaper than the Panasonic ones and they work flawlessly at night. The Panasonic glasses may even suffer from the daylight flicker too, I don't know I haven't compared.