Panasonic DMP-BD55 Blu-ray

[admin_exported]

Hi All

First post so no laughing at my noobish question please.

I bought and took delivery of the Panasonic DMP-BD55 today and sat for an hour setting it all up.

Put in the Iron Man Blu-ray disc and low and behold........... no sound!

My question is; Do I need to use an external amplifier to get 5.1 and or 7.1 sound?

My old panny DVD player connected directly to my 5.1 speakers (no external amp) and had a sound output.

I just assumed that with my new player it would connect directly to the speakers and give sound!

The only way I can get sound at the moment is through the HDMI cable and out through my Panasonic TV speakers.

If I do need an amp any advice would be appreciated please although I now have an added expense I wasn't counting on so price is an issue though not at the expense of losing too much sound quality.

Thanks for any replies

,

John

 

[Big Chris]

Sounds like your old Panny DVD is actually a 'Home-cinema-in-a-box'. This means it had all the amplification already built in.

If you still have your old Panny 'H-C-I-A-B', check to see if it has any digital input connections on the back (Optical or co-ax electrical). If it does, you can buy a digital lead to connect your Blu-ray to your old Panny. Select the correct input, and this will give you DD & DTS soundtracks through your existing speakers.

Only thing is you won't be getting the HD audio formats, but at least it's a cheap solution.

If you've binned the old Panny, you better start saving for an A/V receiver (amp), and some speakers.

 

[Big Aura]

yup - the BD55 won't amplify the sound (although I think it has on-board decoding). You will need to do as Big Chris suggests or get an AV amp (and if your speakers are from an all-in-one boxset, it might be worth upgrading them too).

If it's not too late, it might be an idea to consider returning it and getting a cheaper BD35, and ploughing the savings into an amp and speaker kit.

Some good budget suggestions on here:

http://whathifi.com/forums/t/192858.aspx

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the lightening quick replies guys much appreciated.

Yes my old Panasonic was a Cinema DVD Home Theater sound system SA-PT450 and I've now discovered one disadvantage of buying online and not face to face where your told exactly what you need.

I still have the old system as it was going to the loft as an emergency back-up but to be honest I would rather get the full benefit of my new toy.

Going down the "require an amplifier" path is totally new to me as I always swore I wouldn't spend the cash on unneccessary products......

Alas I've now put myself deep in poo and a bit of explaining as to additional purchases to her in doors

Will maybe bite your ears again if available on recomendations of reasonably priced amps suitable for my new toy that I can't play with properly yet

Thanks again,

John

 

[Anonymous]

Found this one in stayoing with the "Panasonic" theme.

Panasonic SA-BX500EB-K

£351 from here

Bit dearer than I would like to go but will it fulfill my needs?

Thanks for any replies,

John

 

[Big Aura]

panasonic do lovely screens and great blu-ray players, but you better with an Onkyo, Denon or Sony reciever... (IMHO).

 

[gregvet]

I would advise you look at the Sony STR DG820. this can decode all the HD audio formats and is a bargain at £230 or thereabouts online. I have one and have been very impressed, for the money it is fantastic. Strictly speaking however, as your Blu-ray player can decode all the HD audio formats on board, you could go with any budget AV amp you like. With amps I would personally not but oneÿuntilÿyou have heard it in action, as they can have very different sounds. I suspect any amp will blow your old Panasonic system away though ;-)

ÿ

You really ought to get new speakers too, I would advise the JamoÿA102HC55 or if you can stretch to it the KEF 2005 speaker packages (or similar, but again try and listen before you buy, if you listen to a couple of setups you will realise how different they can sound)

ÿ

Dont be pressurised by anyone here to spend money you dont have will you. You owe it to yourself to hear the HD audio on all those Blu-rays however!

 

[professorhat]

As others have said, £350 will buy you a much better amp than that Panasonic - read WHF's verdict here - a very rare 1 star review!

Denon AVR-1909, Sony STR-DG820, Onkyo TX-SR606 - these can all be found in your budget range and will be far superior to the Panny. Have a read on the reviews here (NB - the prices are reflective of the available price at the time of review, so the Denon AVR-1909 is down as £450 but can now be picked up for £300 from Richer Sounds).

 

[Rorschach]

Surely Panasonic's receiver couldn't have been that bad.

 

[ear]

Well if your old home cinema sistem has an audio in, I'd use it untill I got anything else.

 

[Big Chris]

FinHunter:
Thanks for the lightening quick replies guys much appreciated.

Yes my old Panasonic was a Cinema DVD Home Theater sound system SA-PT450 and I've now discovered one disadvantage of buying online and not face to face where your told exactly what you need.

I still have the old system as it was going to the loft as an emergency back-up but to be honest I would rather get the full benefit of my new toy.

Going down the "require an amplifier" path is totally new to me as I always swore I wouldn't spend the cash on unneccessary products......

Alas I've now put myself deep in poo and a bit of explaining as to additional purchases to her in doors

Will maybe bite your ears again if available on recomendations of reasonably priced amps suitable for my new toy that I can't play with properly yet

Thanks again,

John

My parents are using my old Sony DAV-S550 (A unit very similar to your old Panasonic by the sounds of it) with their Blu-Ray player in exactly the way I mentioned before. Works fine and sounds fine too. All it means is you're not using the built in DVD of the old Panny, you're gonna use the 55 for all of your disc spinning duties.

If money is tight, you could always buy an amp and re-use your existing speakers. Not ideal, but at least you'll not be pushed to buy everything at once. (Only issue will be the sub, which I'm betting was a passive unit with your old set-up, whereas you'll need an active (powered) unit for a new A/V amp).

 

[Anonymous]

Greetings from the sunny "Lakes"

I am on the brink of purchasing a BD-55 until I can justify the cost of the big Denon and would appreciate feedback from those who have one as to how well the 55 up-scales standard DVD as this is obviously important having accumulated a substantial library. Also, is HD audio not available through the digital co-axial port?

 

[m.j]

i have the bd55 and its a cracking upscaling dvd player as well as a great blu-ray player
buy with confidence

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that M. J.

 

[Anonymous]

Luck you. This model is no longer available, at least not here in the Neths.

 

[Anonymous]

I've also bought one - just the TV, HDMI cables, Speaker Stands, Speakers, Speaker Cables and rack to decide upon - almost there - NOT!!!!!

 

[Big Chris]

Cameraman:

Greetings from the sunny "Lakes"

I am on the brink of purchasing a BD-55 until I can justify the cost of the big Denon and would appreciate feedback from those who have one as to how well the 55 up-scales standard DVD as this is obviously important having accumulated a substantial library. Also, is HD audio not available through the digital co-axial port?

Nope. HD audio is off the menu I'm afraid.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all on What Hi-Fi for the rapid responses and Sound advice (ok I know it was corny)

I decided to go with the Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 AV Receiver from here. £350 free delivery and a free HDMI lead to boot.

My next issues appear to be my speakers and the lack of a Sub that has it's own power, Chris is right my Sub at the moment was powered only off my old DVD player ....... my heads beginning to spin again, especially after looking at the price of some of the speaker packages up for sale

This issue may be one I resolve a bit further down the line due to me now being £350 worse off than I thought

Thanks again guys, keep up the good work and advice.

John

 

[kbarnak]

What a fool I've been - I eagerly waited for the above Model and eventually bought it in early December. Now I find that it's discontinued - Panny say '

In response, I would explain that the DMP-BD55 has been discontinued. The decision to discontinue the unit was made at factory level.

We trust that the above information will be of assistance to you'

Well, hwo short a run was that Model

 

[kena]

kbarnak:

What a fool I've been - I eagerly waited for the above Model and eventually bought it in early December. Now I find that it's discontinued - Panny say '

In response, I would explain that the DMP-BD55 has been discontinued. The decision to discontinue the unit was made at factory level.

We trust that the above information will be of assistance to you'

Well, hwo short a run was that Model

It's still a very good player and should serve you well so don't worry.

 

[kbarnak]

Having bought the DMP-BD55 , can anyone tell me why it's been discontinued so very quickly?