Sony BDPS5000ES

[admin_exported]

Hi

Seeing as the Sony BDPS5000ES can be had for around £600 (brand new boxed) these days, is it a good option performance wise to its more contemporary competitors? Im looking for the most bang for my buck at around the £500 mark and not that into features that the cheaper players offer; like iplayer, netflix etc. Also not that interested in 3D... Was considering the Denon DVD-2500BT alittle while back but chickened out!

Any advice appreciated!

 

[Anonymous]

Will you see a 500.00 difference in quality from the BDP-370 I doubt it.

I would rather a oppo at that price

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

The 5000es is one of the finest players available and easily outclasses the current crop of Sony units. I would go as far as to say it is only beaten by the Marantz UD9004 and presumably the similarly priced Denon. Despite what you may read the Oppo is not the Holy Grail of players.

I wish we had the stock at that price rather than Hyperfi.

 

[Anonymous]

Back in the day I invested in a decent DVD player ( the Sony DVP-S7700 DVD - 'Old faithful'!) and it has done me well. I still much prefer playing DVDs through that than the Sony BDP-S350 Bluray player I have. I guess Im hoping that buying a higher end bluray player will last as long as 'Old Faithful' has (and impress me more too)!

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

The 5000es is such a player. Build quality is off the scale compared to the flimsy plastic that makes up a unit today. CD performance is over the £500 mark for sure and BDP images are sharp, tight and accurate. You will notice a real strength to the sound - even bitstream sound - over most other palyers.

 

[Anonymous]

All sounds good! Decisions Decisions!

 

[chudleighpaul]

I was on the panel of a Big Question a few months ago and we could not tell the difference between the older expensive Sony player and the new £100 player.Indeed one member thought the cheaper player had the edge on pic quality.

I would save your money for something else.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

chudleighpaul:

I was on the panel of a Big Question a few months ago and we could not tell the difference between the older expensive Sony player and the new £100 player.Indeed one member thought the cheaper player had the edge on pic quality.

I would save your money for something else.

How about sound quality? what was the difference like there?

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

chudleighpaul:
I was on the panel of a Big Question a few months ago and we could not tell the difference between the older expensive Sony player and the new £100 player.Indeed one member thought the cheaper player had the edge on pic quality.

Just out of interest. What display were the players running through?

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Yammaman:chudleighpaul:

I was on the panel of a Big Question a few months ago and we could not tell the difference between the older expensive Sony player and the new £100 player.Indeed one member thought the cheaper player had the edge on pic quality.

Just out of interest. What display were the players running through?

I was wondering that too

 

[v1c]

TheHomeCinemaCentre:
The 5000es is one of the finest players available and easily outclasses the current crop of Sony units. I would go as far as to say it is only beaten by the Marantz UD9004 and presumably the similarly priced Denon. Despite what you may read the Oppo is not the Holy Grail of players.

I wish we had the stock at that price rather than Hyperfi.

Is the Sony 5000es the Holy Grail of sub 4.9k BDP's then ?

 

[Anonymous]

TheHomeCinemaCentre:

The 5000es is one of the finest players available and easily outclasses the current crop of Sony units. I would go as far as to say it is only beaten by the Marantz UD9004 and presumably the similarly priced Denon. Despite what you may read the Oppo is not the Holy Grail of players.

I wish we had the stock at that price rather than Hyperfi.
do you think that it displays a better 24p blu-ray image than the other sonys or it's classier in terms of looks/build quality?
and if you do believe it displays a better image then why are all sonys other players suffering from digital data loss and not the s5000?

ta..

 

[bigboss]

TheHomeCinemaCentre:

Despite what you may read the Oppo is not the Holy Grail of players.

The Oppo has enjoyed a legendary status amongst the videophile community (although I've never heard anyone say that it's the "holy grail" of players), I'm sure you won't deny that. It'll be available only in certain shops, & not all. Have you seen this player in action? How does it compare with other players at the same price point?

 

[psurquhart]

I too was thinking about buying this player at that heavily discounted price.

As per a previous un-answered post ( come on someone from What Hi Fi Team ) I was just wondering if a replacement is due soon - hence the heavy discounts on offer ?

From what I have read everywhere ( and I have researched alot ), those that have this model cant praise it enough ( including What Hi Fi - its still their refernce recommendation ) and those that question its ability generally dont have one and are therefore just assuming.

My only doubt, which is always the problem when you have the upgrade bug, is will I get this only for a new flagship model to come out in March or whenever ?

 

[Frank Harvey]

As the rrp of this player is £1200, I think if Sony were to replace this model, keeping the same build quality, and adding in extra functions which are now on cheaper models, I think you'd be looking nearer the £1500 mark, so a comparison is pretty much useless. Even if a user couldn't see a difference on the HD side of things, they'll certainly see a difference for DVD playback compared to cheaper Bluray players.

 

[Big Chris]

psurquhart:

My only doubt, which is always the problem when you have the upgrade bug, is will I get this only for a new flagship model to come out in March or whenever ?

Don't fret, that's the best time to buy! I bought a BDP-S760 a couple of months ago for £100. That's a former award winner at £400. Could I care less it's been superceded? Nope!

Buy and enjoy, and then when the newer model gets replaced in a few years time and is heavily discounted, buy again!

 

[Anonymous]

I'd definitely agree with that. I bought my Onkyo Amp at a super discount only for it to be replaced 3 months later with a new model. Normally that would really bother me, but I was so happy with its performance and the cheap price I got it at, it didnt matter. It was as if I had snuck in the back door to the VIP room (or something like that anyway...).

 

[psurquhart]

I do know that, infact thats exactly how I usually buy.

In fact just bought a graded stock Sony DA5400ES ( it has a slight scratch at the rear of the left hand side - tiny one that you dont see ) off a company called Willen Trading on ebay for bargain £442. Then got a heavily discounted Sony BDP-370 from Tescos for £119 - using 40 quids worth of clubcard vouchers.

So still seriously considering this half price Hyperfi offer. Just curious still as interested if a new flagship is imminent ? Still no one knows ?

 

[lobby]

Will have to wait until after the CES show ill guess, but expect Sony to put their money into 3d as well along with their new line up of amps / receivers.Google shows one model Sony BDP-S1700ES, but i expect this wont be their flagship, maybe they do a 2700 or even a 3700.Anyway i would expect costs to be similar to the 5000ES, and therefore if your not interested in 3D then this seems a very good price for a well built machine.

 

[RobGardner]

I don't have experience of the Sony BDPS500ES - but I do have a Denon BD2500. While I would say the difference between it and my other Blu-ray player is not huge in picture in BD picture quality, the differences are there and noticeable when doing a side by side comparison. The big differences are in terms of sound quality and DVD play back. If sound quality is in a different league, the difference in DVD playback is stunning. I watched Tokyo Gore Police on DVD the other night and I had to keep reminding myself that I was 'only' watching a DVD. Build quality is much better which should allow the internals to perform better and last longer.

I am only pointing this out because its not just one thing that you need to take in to account when comparing cheaper players with high end units. Your system has to be of the quality to exploit the performance of the player, you need to be bothered about the last scintilla of detail and sound quality, plus you need to think about the format of most of the films in your collection. I would expect the higher end Sony to deliver a higher quality more rounded performance on all formats. I know I would buy one at that price if I didn't have my Denon.

 

[Anonymous]

Good point Rob, Here lies my problem! If my TV is showing its age, then my speakers have long since died and gone to heaven! All good stuff in their day but probably not making the most of the electronics that they are hooked up to already. :S Its the Euro Millions tonight isn't ?! 🙂

 

[psurquhart]

Yammaman,

Are you any closer to thinking about buying one yet ?

And if you do can you let me know your thoughts please.

 

[Anonymous]

Good question - I really should see what its like before dropping that sort of money I think. Tempting as it is to buy blind it is still £600! Will let you know if I cave though!

 

[chudleighpaul]

Yammaman:chudleighpaul:
I was on the panel of a Big Question a few months ago and we could not tell the difference between the older expensive Sony player and the new £100 player.Indeed one member thought the cheaper player had the edge on pic quality.

Just out of interest. What display were the players running through?

They used a very expensive Sim projector, £23000 or thereabouts. Sound quality was the same.