Help with purchasing 4k Blu Ray player for audio capabilities

[Jaeson]

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to purchase a 4k Blu Ray player for my dad for Christmas. We currently have a 5 speaker Pioneer (Andrew Jones) 5.1 setup for sound, running through a Pioneer VSX-831 receiver, and into a Samsung KS8000. However, it gets more tricky since I want something to play quality audio through my dad's 2 standing (they are about 4 feet tall) Marantz speakers from the 1970's (currently he has this running through a dedicated (same era) Marantz receiver. So, suffice it to say, I don't want to purchase the wrong player if we are running audio cds through it to the speakers. He currently uses a terrible (barf) Sony 5 disc dvd player from the early 2000's to the Marantz, but I think it sounds atrocious (really I cringe). I think it has a lot more potential to be more dynamic than it currently is; as of now you can really hear an enormous difference between his retro 45 player with a record on it, and the Sony dvd player. I know part of it is the nature of the beast (records vs cds) but I also think the player has something to do with it.

Does anyone have an opinion on the Oppo 203 or the Panasonic UB 900? (as in strong opinion for one or the other and why it would be a good idea for me?)

 

[lovinthehd]

With that avr how would you take advantage of the allegedly superior DAC sq via analog from the Oppo? Just 2 channel is all you're after from a blu-ray? A 45 sounding better than a cd? There might be something off...how is the player connected for audio to the avr?

 

[j_garcia]

Some of the older Sony ES CD players were not bad to be honest. I loved my CA70ES and 222ES SACD models. The DVD players not so much.

The 203 is not the model one would choose for audio specifically compared to the 205, but I am certain the 203 will be better than a 2000's Sony DVD player.

 

[2channel lover]

Some of the older Sony ES CD players were not bad to be honest. I loved my CA70ES and 222ES SACD models. The DVD players not so much.

The 203 is not the model one would choose for audio specifically compared to the 205, but I am certain the 203 will be better than a 2000's Sony DVD player.

I've heard the 203 in store and I took the plunge and now own the 205 and love it...the detail is better than my Rotel CD player which I was able to do A/B...It was old, but considered to be a very good spinner in it's time. I wish I could offer a true A/B comparison with the 203 but I can't, nothing was the same in my demo, music, systems all different. There are some pro reviews filtering in now with the 203/205...I would imagine AH will be publishing their review soon.

 

[-Jim-]

Hi Jaeson,

Welcome to the Forum. In the early days CD Changers like the one your Dad has, was connected via RCA cables to most receivers. And I'll be that's the way this was done. Most Sony's had an optical (toslink) connection as well, and for grins you might want to try to hook it that way into your Pioneer. I don't know if they put in a digital coaxial output (SPDIF) but if they did , that too would be an option.

Model number for the Marantz receiver could be helpful. Am I mistaken, but do you want to connect the new 4K Blu Ray player to his old system as well?