[judethedude]

Can anyone please recommend a decent Blu-Ray player with analogue outputs, onboard bass management and speaker sizing to use with an Arcam AVR300. Looking to spend up to £350.

Thank You

[Welwynnick]

I doubt that you can do it for that money, the closest you can get is probably a Denon 3800. Your best bet might be a player with DTS re-encode like some Samsungs and LGs that give you 1.5 Mbps from all BD soundtracks. With your AVR, that will probably match the analogue SQ of any £350 player AND give you proper bass management.

Nick

[judethedude]

Thanks for the post welwynnick.

I've just read a good review of the Sony BDP-S760 which seems to fit the bill.

Do you know anything about this machine ?

[ARNOLD AKIEN]

I did see a Pioneer BDP-51 on sale in the forums a while ago that went for £200. ....

http://www.avforums.com/forums/dvd-b...ay-player.html


Since the player is now discontinued and replaced with the 52 it was being remaindered here and there at around about your price range and it might be be a good buy if you could find one though, whilst it does have the required analogue outputs, I'm not sure if it has bass management.

I've been very pleased with mine even though I may replace it in my main system with a modified for all zones and regions Oppo 83 some day soon.


Anyway there is an interminably long forum on the 51 that you could have a glance through and there is also a forum for that Sony that you were asking about.


http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-r...p-s760-13.html



and heres that 51 forum ....



http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-r...-part-2-a.html


You should be able to get a pretty decent Blu Ray player in your price range ... its just the " analogue outputs, onboard bass management and speaker sizing " that will limit the options.


Best Wishes,


Arnold.

[judethedude]

Thanks a million Arnold Aiken. The Oppo 83 definitely meets my requirements in all respects apart from price !

I'll read the forum on the Sony BDP-S760 as it can be bought for just over £300 and is a new machine (ot sure if it has bass management or speaker sizing though).

[BAD Dave]

Originally Posted by judethedude

I'll read the forum on the Sony BDP-S760 as it can be bought for just over £300 and is a new machine (ot sure if it has bass management or speaker sizing though).

I downloaded the manual (Sony S760.pdf) which suggests the speaker size, distances and levels can be altered, but only in pairs (fronts, backs), not individually. Hope that helps.

[Devotee101]

I've ordered one of these refurbished Pioneer BDP-LX71 players from Superfi - PIONEER BDPLX71 BLU-RAY/DVD PLAYER (REFURBISHED) - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/5635 for details

A bargain at £299.

[judethedude]

Originally Posted by BAD Dave

I downloaded the manual (Sony S760.pdf) which suggests the speaker size, distances and levels can be altered, but only in pairs (fronts, backs), not individually. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the posts.

I tried downloading the S760 user manual but for some reason the PDF file keeps getting stuck at 2.41MB ! Is there anything in the manual about Bass management ?

[BAD Dave]

Originally Posted by judethedude

Thanks for the posts.

I tried downloading the S760 user manual but for some reason the PDF file keeps getting stuck at 2.41MB ! Is there anything in the manual about Bass management ?

Support for BDP-S760 : Blu-ray Disc™ Players : Home Video : Sony Asia Pacific
I dont think there is any bass management. You can set speaker size, distance and levels (in pairs) but I cant see anything about crossover frequency.

[Bossk128]

Originally Posted by judethedude

Can anyone please recommend a decent Blu-Ray player with analogue outputs, onboard bass management and speaker sizing to use with an Arcam AVR300. Looking to spend up to £350.

Thank You

It's a difficult thing to find. Most players which have analogue outs do not have great bass management. I'm pretty sure it's a ploy to get you to upgrade your receiver, because the ones which do have good management (some Denons, Pioneers, Oppo) are over your (and my!) budget.

I reckon you'll have to go second hand, so good luck!

Also, bear in mind that having 4 or more DACs in the Blu-Ray player will impact cost, and so a player with on board decoding for multichannel that is low cost may have inferior DACs to other dearer players, and more importantly the DACs in your receiver. Many forumites are of the opinion that DTS/DD over optical/coaxial through a good legacy receiver sounds much better than HD sound decoded by a budget player and played through the same recievers multichannels.

This is mostly due to the superior audio management on the receiver (delays, crossovers, volume adjustments etc) but also due to the DACs/output stages on the player.

I'm personally thinking of checking out ex-dem/EOL Pioneers and Denons (LX71, BD3800 mentioned above) or just plump the cash for an Oppo. The Denons and Pioneers are much slower operationally than the Oppo.

[judethedude]

Thanks for the post Bossk128, excellent information. I take it that you're in a similar situation to me.

Do the Pioneer LX72, Denon 3800BD and OPPO BDP-83 all have bass management !

[Bossk128]

They do, but the Denon's is better than the Pioneers. the Oppo seems to be good too. This is just from checking the manuals, I haven't used any of these.

[bumtious]

Originally Posted by Bossk128

They do, but the Denon's is better than the Pioneers. the Oppo seems to be good too. This is just from checking the manuals, I haven't used any of these.

Denon certainly does but its outside of your price range but its a superb player and a steal at the price it can be now had.

The 760 is superb too, but dont think there is bass management contol.

[Bossk128]

Bumtious, how fast is the Denon operationally, say compared to the previous generation Panasonics?

[judethedude]

Thanks for the additional posts.

I think I mught have to stretch my budget and go for the Oppo BDP-83 as it seems a good all rounder and is not too expensive.

Unless anyone has an alternative suggestion.

Thanks again.

[Nic Rhodes]

Originally Posted by welwynnick

I doubt that you can do it for that money, the closest you can get is probably a Denon 3800. Your best bet might be a player with DTS re-encode like some Samsungs and LGs that give you 1.5 Mbps from all BD soundtracks. With your AVR, that will probably match the analogue SQ of any £350 player AND give you proper bass management.

Nick

I would follow this advice

[judethedude]

Originally Posted by welwynnick

I doubt that you can do it for that money, the closest you can get is probably a Denon 3800. Your best bet might be a player with DTS re-encode like some Samsungs and LGs that give you 1.5 Mbps from all BD soundtracks. With your AVR, that will probably match the analogue SQ of any £350 player AND give you proper bass management.

Nick

I would follow this advice

Thank you for the post Nic.

I take it I would then just use the digital connection between the Blu-Ray player and AVR300 and forget about analogues all together !

My only concern with this option is the upgrade path. If I were to upgrade my AV receiver in the future, would I also have to look at upgrading the Blu-Ray player ?

However, if I were to stretch my budget now and buy the OPPO BDP-83, this would be a suitable player for any mid-range system (or not) !

[Nic Rhodes]

I think there is a level you have to achieve in order for the analogues to come to the fore. For me this starts at the Oppo level BUT only if you ca treat bass management properly elsewhere. If you cannot then look at the Denon 3900 for analogues. Your 300 however has excellent DTS capabilities and a re encoder may well be both much cheaper but also a better balance for your kit. The Oppo sits in the mid ground here if your interest is in analogue (also a re encoder) but for me is still the player of my choice atm.

[ARNOLD AKIEN]

Originally Posted by judethedude

Thank you for the post Nic.

I take it I would then just use the digital connection between the Blu-Ray player and AVR300 and forget about analogues all together !

My only concern with this option is the upgrade path. If I were to upgrade my AV receiver in the future, would I also have to look at upgrading the Blu-Ray player ?

However, if I were to stretch my budget now and buy the OPPO BDP-83, this would be a suitable player for any mid-range system (or not) !

If I was starting from your position I'd certainly go for the Oppo 83. Despite any misgivings that I might have about it being a newly released player with limited availability in the UK it's still the current front runner in the midfield of Blu Ray players with very little in the way of facilities and performance between it and the High End machines. I use the HDMI from my 51 to feed my Denon 2808 which does all the Cinema Surround Sound work whilst Music is fed from an Arcam CD player and passed through decent quality stereo analog leads to and through the 2808 which is used for Amplification to the front left and right B and W 704 speakers.

If you are considering upgrade paths and want to,say, factor in music from CD then a separate CD player could well be an option.


I'd say that the multi region modified Oppo 83 is worth a stretched budget for what you are likely to upgrade to in future.


Since I already have a Pioneer 51 I can bear to wait and see for a while before upgrading to an Oppo 83 ... but I'm very tempted.


Arnold.

[Ian_S]

If you are going to upgrade your amplifier then it would make sense to get one that does HDMI audio properly. And by that I do not mean bitstream.

If you get an amp like the Arcam AVR600 or probably even the AVR500, then any player that can decode to PCM will get you full BD functionality and generate decent audio. This means even a Sony S360 for example would be machine enough here.

The main benefit of the Oppo in the HDMI audio world is that it can play DVD-Audio and SACD. Beyond that I'm not so sure, as long as you have the right amp. And that is they key I feel, get the right amp. If you have the wrong amp then different players do a better or worse job of PCM and bitstream may be the better option.

The Oppo's main weakness on bass management is a fixed crossover. If you use the small setting on your speakers then unless you happen to use the same xover as the Oppo, you wil struggle.

[judethedude]

Thank you for the very informative posts.

I was unfamiliar withh DTS re-encode until I posted this thread and now, considering my budget, it seems the best solution at the moment.

Can anyone please recommend the best Blu-Ray player with DTS re-encode in terms of PQ and audio quality.

My current source for Blu-Ray movies is a PS3 and so I do not want to be waiting a long time for movies to load.

The OPPO BDP-83 still interests as I already use the 80MHz fixed crossover frequency in my system anyway but £500 is too expensive at the moment.

Thanks again for the excellent advice.

[Nic Rhodes]

Look at the fast LGs, they re encode but I haven't played with them yet. Samsung is the other option. Their players have always been decent. None will quite match PS3 speed but quality should be the same unless you have it set up incorrectly.