Pioneer UDP-LX500 v Sony BDP S350

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My Sony has served me well for over ten years. It’s still going strong. Until recently I played it through a 5.1 system I have now sold. Most of my DVDs are operas and live music concerts including heavy metal, country and other pop. I’m now very happy with using a Marantz stereo amp and Spendor bookshelf speakers, and have no wish to upgrade. But I do wonder if I would notice much difference in picture quality and sound if I replaced the Sony with the Pioneer. I will audition but would welcome any opinions before I do anything to arrange one.
 
The LX500 is extremely good for music, it easily takes up Oppo late lamented mantle where this is concerned. To play DVD or discs with SD audio the player must be set to 'Source Direct' and Bitstream. I use the LX500 for multi channel SACD and blu ray audio as well as concert videos and audio wise it's the best video player I've ever owned. It will be quite a step up from the Sony to be honest. I had a 350 which my son now uses, excellent reliability.
 
Many thanks. I know that what I must do is to take my Sony into the demo room and do a direct comparison with the Pioneer. I’m just fishing for thoughts in advance. My main interest is in music playback on DVDs so your experience is helpful.
 
I've had numerous players over the years and although I think the Sony is a good reliable player and still in use today, I just couldn't live with it's sound. I gave the Sony to my son and bought a Denon blu ray player. For music it was far better, in fact the Denon was superior in every department except for reliability and that particular model had to be replaced under warranty.

Now I have the LX500 and it is the best sounding player I have had. I only use it for multi channel sources, some thing at which it excels, it surpasses the audio quality of my previous Pioneer an LX58. Besides HDMI for multi channel the LX500 also has a pair of analogue connections that can go straight to a stereo amp. It's also built like a tank.

I don't use it for stereo playback as I also have a Denon DCD 2500 NE and Marantz sa8005 for stereo SACD and CD playback. I seem to have a fetish for SACD players.
 
I didn’t mention that I have an Arcam DV137 which I also have hooked up to the Marantz/Spendors. It’s highly rated for its audio performance. I confess that my ears don’t detect a really significant difference compared with the Sony. I’ll look forward to comparing both with the Pioneer.
 
I've had numerous players over the years and although I think the Sony is a good reliable player and still in use today, I just couldn't live with it's sound. I gave the Sony to my son and bought a Denon blu ray player. For music it was far better, in fact the Denon was superior in every department except for reliability and that particular model had to be replaced under warranty.

Now I have the LX500 and it is the best sounding player I have had. I only use it for multi channel sources, some thing at which it excels, it surpasses the audio quality of my previous Pioneer an LX58. Besides HDMI for multi channel the LX500 also has a pair of analogue connections that can go straight to a stereo amp. It's also built like a tank.

I don't use it for stereo playback as I also have a Denon DCD 2500 NE and Marantz sa8005 for stereo SACD and CD playback. I seem to have a fetish for SACD players.
Interested in your comments. Just bought a Pioneer LX500 and was initially thinking I might use it for CD playback through my Arcam SA 10.
Now I’m not so sure.
I‘m using a Pioneer DV-LX50 for SADC playback the through my Yamaha RC A3050.
So do I keep 3 disc players or go down to just the LX500?
 
Interested in your comments. Just bought a Pioneer LX500 and was initially thinking I might use it for CD playback through my Arcam SA 10.
Now I’m not so sure.
I‘m using a Pioneer DV-LX50 for SADC playback the through my Yamaha RC A3050.
So do I keep 3 disc players or go down to just the LX500?
For redbook playback you can connect the LX500 by analogue straight to the Arcam. Use the direct function on the LX500. It's pretty good. Analogue will obviously give a far better stereo signal than HDMI. The LX500 is certainly a very good player for multi channel SACD and blu ray audio and a step up from my previous LX58.

If you have a spare set of interconnects then give the LX500 a try on stereo SACD. I have a second (and a third) SACD player because my headphone side of things was over the other side of the room. I've now integrated my Denon DCD 2500 NE into the main system and that player is the best for redbook reproduction that I've ever listened to. That is now connected directly to my Rega Elicit-R.
 

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