Best Blu-ray Player?

[The Chukker]

It's really that much better than a TrueHD or LPCM track??

LOL the evidence is out there that the codec has much less of an overall impact to the listening experience than how well a movie is mixed and mastered. 3:10 to Yuma is the best sounding BD I own and it is PCM. It is utterly believable in its clarity and homogeneous soundfield.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to hear a really great sounding 7.1 dts-ma or 7.1 True HD mix but the fact is there aren't any worth mentioning yet.

 

[obscbyclouds]

LOL the evidence is out there that the codec has much less of an overall impact to the listening experience than how well a movie is mixed and mastered. 3:10 to Yuma is the best sounding BD I own and it is PCM. It is utterly believable in its clarity and homogeneous soundfield.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to hear a really great sounding 7.1 dts-ma or 7.1 True HD mix but the fact is there aren't any worth mentioning yet.

Yep, I would have to agree that 3:10 to Yuma is very, very hard to beat. But having a PS3, I've never even heard DTS-HD MA in it's full glory.

 

[Midcow2]

My choices would be Panasonic 30 or PS3

I own the Pioneer and it is Profile 1.0 only -- no BD Live. It will bitstream DTS MA and Dolby True HD but it is not upgradeable. Good player, but honestly you can do better for the money.
I had the joy of test driving the Denon 2500 BCTI and it was built like a tank -- however it was bare bones no nonsense: HDMI output only (no analog outputs) and no matter what I did I could not get the unit to shake hands with my Samsung display for 24p output. The Pioneer does not have this issue..

I had a Pionerr Elite AVR and a Pionerr Elite DVD ( both 5 years old). I do not even plan to buy Pioneer again. Couple ao reasons: (1) tech support is the worst i have ever encountered (2) the operation was not as smooth as other DVD players (3) AVR had power issues and would shut-off unexpectedly. I also had a Denon DVD (5 years old) and it worked pretty good. Had a Sony and it worked best it was also about 5 years old. I still have these , just don't remeber model numbers off hand.

I have heard the new Panny is very nice, profile 2.0, bitstreams DTS MA and True HD, but is not as easy on the eyes (but who cares ). .

Have the Panasonic DMP-30BD and it is excellent conencted through HDMI. My old quirk is that it doesn't show tme remaining on status; you have to calculate. has bar graph , time palyes and total time. Otherwise controls are excellent. Also they provide fairly frequent firmware upgrades.

If you don't already own a PS3, you should very well consider it -- it's going to be a kick @ss player down the road...

Brute of a processor, he fastest DVD player. Ours turned into a game machine and the PS3 controllers are a little quirky for my DVD tastes. However, PS3 also provides an excellent traditional DVD remote. They also have frequent firmware upgrades.

My choices would be Panasonic 30 or PS3 ( $400-$500) or wait for Panny 50. I would not pay more right now for a higher end unless you were assured they would support firmware upgrades.

 

[itschris]

The new Sony's are going to be out this summer too. The 350 is supposed to be about the same cost or even less than the current 300. The 550 is said to be a stellar player. Right now, I don't see the point in even buying a Blu-Ray player untill the next crop of them come out. Just live with "regular old boring" dvd for another couple of months. I've hear a lot about whether or not the lossless surround sound is really that big of a deal, but to me, why wouldn't you want if you can have it? Anyway, I'll be probably going with the Sony 350. I just think those players look sweet.

 

[The Chukker]

I just got home with my new Panny 30 and it is still in the box -- don't worry, I like to unwind with a couple of beers on Audioholics and myspace before I jump into anything serious.
One last thing I'd like to add is a shout out to Magnolia for their terrific customer support -- they took back the Pioneer no questions asked, gave me a $500 + tax in-store credit which I promptly turned around and picked up 4 new BD's (which they carry now): Blade Runner, David Gilmour Live, Bram Stokers Dracula, and No Country for Old Men (all discounted 15% on top of that), and I still have ~420 bucks I can blow at a later date when I finally get around to upgrading my center channel.
Since 420 bucks won't cover the cost of a new CLR 3000, guess I'll have to wait for my economic stimulus check to get, um erm, stimulated ...

 

[jostenmeat]

Congrats man, I've got that player and have thoroughly enjoyed it the last several months. I received some BDs from Amazon today, and Blade Runner was one of them. I can' wait,

what kind of beer are you drinking?

 

[bandphan]

I had a Pionerr Elite AVR and a Pionerr Elite DVD ( both 5 years old). I do not even plan to buy Pioneer again. Couple ao reasons: (1) tech support is the worst i have ever encountered (2) the operation was not as smooth as other DVD players (3) AVR had power issues and would shut-off unexpectedly. I also had a Denon DVD (5 years old) and it worked pretty good. Had a Sony and it worked best it was also about 5 years old. I still have these , just don't remeber model numbers off hand.

it was/is known that pioneer had issues with certian dvd player that you cant remember the model number. As for the rest of their gear overall they make a good product.

 

[Sheep]

It's settled. The PS3 is the best Blu Ray player.

SheepStar

 

[mouettus]

It's settled. The PS3 is the best Blu Ray player.

SheepStar

on top of that it will decode DTS HD-MA internally in 1 week

 

[Sheep]

on top of that it will decode DTS HD-MA internally in 1 week

That's what I meant....

SheepStar

 

[patnshan]

It's settled. The PS3 is the best Blu Ray player.

SheepStar

Yep, now it has everything most people will need. That is everyone who doesn't need analog outs. For everyone else, it's unbeatable. Mine was $275 after the Sony card rebate and conning the CC guy into giving me $25 off an extended warranty that showed up as coming off the PS3. I am "returning" that today I'm loving it. I think I'll use that $75 they are crediting me to get guitar hero

Pat