MajorFubar said:See it's no wonder Oppo fans feel a bit cheated by what they feel is an unjust review. when people like Gel won't even consider the product now,
Why should they feel cheated? It makes no difference to them what he buys surely?
MajorFubar said:See it's no wonder Oppo fans feel a bit cheated by what they feel is an unjust review. when people like Gel won't even consider the product now,
hammill said:So you think saying that virtually all players sound fine using HDMI = Blu-ray players all sound the same over HDMI? Really?gel said:hammill said:Absolutely not. If the signal is sent via HDMI it is not passing through the DACs. A machine with terrible DACs could still sound fine using HDMI (as virtually all players do of course). I think this explains why you are happy with this remarkably uninformative review.gel said:But if it is bad through analogue then I presume it is safe to presume it is going to be bad through HDMI? And vice versa. So surely talking about the sound in general is enough.
I guess it does.If WHF came out and said Blu-ray players all sound the same over HDMI I would know this not to be the case, and so would a lot of others. I guess you think they do though?![]()
bigboss said:gel said:If WHF came out and said Blu-ray players all sound the same over HDMI I would know this not to be the case, and so would a lot of others.
You would still trust the WHF review, won't you? 😉
MajorFubar said:See it's no wonder Oppo fans feel a bit cheated by what they feel is an unjust review. when people like Gel won't even consider the product now, based on just one magazine's subjective opinions (which as it happens appears to be contrary to just about everyone else's). I think there's such a thing as being a little too much of a disciple. You could miss-out on the absolute bargain of the century based on the opinions of people you don't know. By all means use reviews as a guide, but there's no substitute for your own eyes and ears.
MajorFubar said:Indeed, in that respect they don't do themselves any favours.
MajorFubar said:By 'they' I meant Oppo. If you want to get known, well there's no real substitute for being on dealers' shelves.
Roundhead 5000 said:Hi, not sure if this thread is one I should be asking a question in, but I'm going to anyway seeing as there seem to be a few of you who know a bit about bluray players.
Anyway, I bought a panny bt500 to replace my old bd80, and it is a noticable improvement. Which led me to think should I consider spending a bit more (I guess up to £1500) to improve things another notch.
Is this a realistic proposition, or is this a law of diminishing returns thing, where I spend a lot for miniscule imrovements?
Any players you would recommend? I don't have to spend that much, I just have a feeling the picture I am experiencing with the bt500 would take a fair bit of an upgrade to improve upon (I may have also answered my own question)
Many thanks in advance..
bigboss said:Roundhead 5000 said:Hi, not sure if this thread is one I should be asking a question in, but I'm going to anyway seeing as there seem to be a few of you who know a bit about bluray players.
Anyway, I bought a panny bt500 to replace my old bd80, and it is a noticable improvement. Which led me to think should I consider spending a bit more (I guess up to £1500) to improve things another notch.
Is this a realistic proposition, or is this a law of diminishing returns thing, where I spend a lot for miniscule imrovements?
Any players you would recommend? I don't have to spend that much, I just have a feeling the picture I am experiencing with the bt500 would take a fair bit of an upgrade to improve upon (I may have also answered my own question)
Many thanks in advance..
What's the rest of your system like? What sort of improvement are you looking at: blu ray picture quality or DVD upscaling? What about audio quality? Law of diminishing returns applies to blu ray players as well.
strapped for cash said:I'd advise strongly against spending £1,500 on a Blu-ray player, unless you've got money to throw around. On a performance-per-pound basis, £1,500 would be much better spent on any number of other system components, especially on the audio front. It could also buy you an excellent TV for a second room.
In my view, a $1,500 Blu-ray player would be overkill in any system, even if you have a dedicated cinema room.
FrankHarveyHiFi said:strapped for cash said:I'd advise strongly against spending £1,500 on a Blu-ray player, unless you've got money to throw around. On a performance-per-pound basis, £1,500 would be much better spent on any number of other system components, especially on the audio front. It could also buy you an excellent TV for a second room.
In my view, a $1,500 Blu-ray player would be overkill in any system, even if you have a dedicated cinema room.
Why, if it could be proven to sound better than cheaper players?
Most are saying that picture quality of Bluray players are all extremely similar. And that the only differences can be subtle ones. Why then, after adding an Oppo 103 to my own system, does it look like I have a new PJ? The difference I could show you, most people will pay an extra £500 for.
strapped for cash said:As I understand it, though I'm happy to be corrected, when the websites in question award a product reference status, it means reference status full stop. There's only ever one product in a particular category (i.e. all TVs, all BDPs, or whatever else) listed as reference status at any one time.
If there was a £1,500 BDP that was demonstrably the best available and offered a significant upgrade over less expensive players, I'd agree that it would be worth recommending as part of a very high end system (a high end projector would be a prerequisite). But we're dealing in hypotheticals here, and the poster contemplating spending £1,500 on a BDP is looking to buy at this particular moment, in the real world.
On that basis, I stand by my advice... It's certainly not worth spending that kind of money on a BDP. If I qualify that statement with the words "right now," perhaps we can find some common ground.
That said, I'm not convinced a £1,500 BDP that blows current high end players out of the water will ever exist. In my view, the law of diminishing returns is greater on BDPs that other AV equipment (I'm not talking digital cables here, as I don't want to start that debate on an already heated thread). I consequently still think the poster contemplating such a purchase would get better value upgrading other kit.
jj123 said:Far too many UK products getting reviewed on this site, just feeding the your market.