Musical Blu-ray player?

NewHTguy
NewHTguy Posts: 584
edited January 2009 in Electronics
I don't have space for a separate cd player and I want to move to blu-ray. Are there any blu-ray players that provide good SQ with CDs? I want blu-ray but don't want to sacrifice SQ. Any suggestions that can be had for less than $800?
MAIN: Polk Lsi9s; Polk PSW505; Lsic (in box); Onkyo SR-875; Parasound 2250; Cambridge Audio 740C; LG BD370
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BENCHED: CS20; OWM3s
Post edited by NewHTguy on
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  • bigred7078
    bigred7078 Posts: 477
    edited January 2009
    Supposidly the Pioneer Elite Blu-Rays are extremely good with CD's. Wolfons Dac's and anti-jitter, sounds like it would suit you.
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  • wutadumsn23
    wutadumsn23 Posts: 3,702
    edited January 2009
    PS3, does very well with music too IMO. Plays SACD as well. Can be had for less than $500. It is the best BD player out there for the price IMO.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited January 2009
    the Panasonic BD55 has a really good analog output. I read a review a while back that said it has some of the better sounding analog outputs of any current Blu Ray player.
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  • metal83
    metal83 Posts: 1,219
    edited January 2009
    The PS3 does do decent with music in my opinion as well. Just keep in mind that you cannot play SACD's on the new PS3's, they dropped that function back in 2007. So unless you can get an older version of the PS3, you'll have to go elsewhere if your into SACD's.

    The PS3's are going for $400 now, so that's not a bad price given the functionality of them.
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited January 2009
    wutadumsn23 wrote: »
    PS3, does very well with music too IMO. Plays SACD as well. Can be had for less than $500. It is the best BD player out there for the price IMO.

    I've always heard that the PS3's do good for music...but only the very first ones have SACD compatibility. It's probably kinda hard to come by those ones anymore.
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  • wutadumsn23
    wutadumsn23 Posts: 3,702
    edited January 2009
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    I've always heard that the PS3's do good for music...but only the very first ones have SACD compatibility. It's probably kinda hard to come by those ones anymore.


    Yeah, I happen to have one of those older 80GB models that plays the SACD's and is backwards compatible with PS2 games as well.
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    T.V.- 60" Sony SXRD KDS-60A2000 LCoS
    Blu-Ray- 80 GB PS3


    2 CH rig (in progress)
    Polk Audio Monitor 10A's :cool:

    It's not that I'm insensitive, I just don't care.. :D
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited January 2009
    wutadumsn23 wrote: »
    Yeah, I happen to have one of those older 80GB models that plays the SACD's and is backwards compatible with PS2 games as well.

    I'd hang onto that one then. Hopefully it never breaks down on ya. SACD playback is a big plus.

    So are the newer PS3's not backwards compatible with PS2 games anymore then I take it?
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,236
    edited January 2009
    The Ps3 is a cool unit ( the older 80g unit) which has many cool features. Cd playback is good when you burn them in on the hardrive at the highest bit rate. I enjoy it but

    The new Pioneer ELite BDP05FD is a killer 2 channel cd player. I have installed it many times with SHOCK!!!. I compared it to a Califorina Labs Transport and external DAC and it actually sounded better to me and the customer. This system was a Full Adcom pre and amp with Audioquest Ic's and speaker wires with Focal speakers. He uses his 2 channel rig to play Blu ray in 2 channel and cable in 2 channel. He has a 50 inch Pioneer ELite Kuro for video. I tried to talk him into Multichannel which he may do down the road but right now he is blown away with his Elite Player. The California Labs is out of his rig.

    Dan
    Dan
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  • wingnut4772
    wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
    edited January 2009
    Does the 60 do SACD?
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  • CaligulaPolk
    CaligulaPolk Posts: 1,650
    edited January 2009
    wingnut4772 wrote: »
    Does the 60 do SACD?

    Yes 60gb do SACD!

    hard to find one now, but its there out somewhere
    I am 100% BORN DEAF and No I am not kidding! :D Why am I here? My wife's hearing! :p

    My Home Theater Rig || Television: 58" Panasonic TH-58PZ800U Viera Plasma || Power Conditioner: Power Monster HTS 3600 MKII || Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR805 || Blu-Ray/Gaming: 60 Gigabytes Playstation 3 || Amplifier: Emotiva XPA-5 || Fronts: Polk Audio RT800i || Center: Polk Audio CS245i || Surrounds: TBA|| Subwoofer: TBA
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  • NewHTguy
    NewHTguy Posts: 584
    edited January 2009
    Went to sleep and woke up to tons of advice! Thanks for the comments. Nice to know I have a few options.
    MAIN: Polk Lsi9s; Polk PSW505; Lsic (in box); Onkyo SR-875; Parasound 2250; Cambridge Audio 740C; LG BD370
    OFFICE: Polk Lsi7; REL T3; HK 3490; CA 840W; Onkyo C-S5VL
    BENCHED: CS20; OWM3s
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  • NewHTguy
    NewHTguy Posts: 584
    edited January 2009
    Now I am a little confused. My amp is only two channel. For the Pioneer ELite BDP05FD or Panasonic BD55, would I connect the Blu-ray to my Onk 875? Or are you suggesting that the Blu-ray go to the amp, since it has decoded the audio? Sorry for the newbie question.
    MAIN: Polk Lsi9s; Polk PSW505; Lsic (in box); Onkyo SR-875; Parasound 2250; Cambridge Audio 740C; LG BD370
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    BENCHED: CS20; OWM3s
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  • wingnut4772
    wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
    edited January 2009
    CaligulaPolk wrote: »
    Yes 60gb do SACD!

    hard to find one now, but its there out somewhere


    i have one.:)
    Sharp Elite 70
    Anthem D2V 3D
    Parasound 5250
    Parasound HCA 1000 A
    Parasound HCA 1000
    Oppo BDP 95
    Von Schweikert VR4 Jr R/L Fronts
    Von Schweikert LCR 4 Center
    Totem Mask Surrounds X4
    Hsu ULS-15 Quad Drive Subwoofers
    Sony PS3
    Squeezebox Touch

    Polk Atrium 7s on the patio just to keep my foot in the door.
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  • CaligulaPolk
    CaligulaPolk Posts: 1,650
    edited January 2009
    wingnut4772 wrote: »
    i have one.:)

    me2 and it was free!! (wedding gift from uncle in law)

    glad i got the right console
    I am 100% BORN DEAF and No I am not kidding! :D Why am I here? My wife's hearing! :p

    My Home Theater Rig || Television: 58" Panasonic TH-58PZ800U Viera Plasma || Power Conditioner: Power Monster HTS 3600 MKII || Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR805 || Blu-Ray/Gaming: 60 Gigabytes Playstation 3 || Amplifier: Emotiva XPA-5 || Fronts: Polk Audio RT800i || Center: Polk Audio CS245i || Surrounds: TBA|| Subwoofer: TBA
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  • inspiredsports
    inspiredsports Posts: 5,502
    edited January 2009
    I don't know if anyone has here been keeping up with separate (External) DAC (Digital to Analog) converter advancements. You use your exisiting CD Player transport (laser and motor to spin the CD) and feed the output to a separate DAC.

    The point is, a new company has invented a new state of the art chip (ESS Technology's "Premier 8-channel Audio Sabre DAC") that is being heralded as the absolute best DAC Chip by audiophiles.

    One company offers a kit using this chip in their DAC at: http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/digital/buffalo.aspx

    Samsung announced in August that their 4th Generation Blu-Ray BD-P2550 Blu-Ray Player uses this Sabre Premier 8-channel Audio DAC.

    They state "Audio enthusiasts will appreciate the true studio quality, exceptionally wide sound stage and unmatched clarity of the BD-P2550's 7.1-channel analog audio output powered by the ESS Sabre Premier audio DAC (ES9006). With patented Hyperstream(TM) architecture and Revolver Dynamic Matching, the Sabre Premier delivers the best-in-class performance of any Blu-Ray player in the market with up to groundbreaking 120dB dynamic range and -102dB total harmonic distortion. In addition, a patented time-domain Jitter Eliminator allows Sabre Premier to reproduce audio free from clock jitter common in digital interconnect such as S/PDIF and HDMI. Robert Wong, vice-president of marketing and worldwide sales for ESS Technology, commented, "Most audiophiles prefer a high performance analog audio option instead of digital when it comes to high fidelity music and sound reproduction. Using ESS Sabre Premier Audio DAC ES9006, Samsung is now able to deliver audiophile-worthy 7.1 channels Analog performance in a consumer Blu-Ray player."

    In my opinion, Blu-Ray Players with new ESS Tecnology Chips should prove to be the ones to watch.

    PS- for now I own a PS3 and its CD reproduction is quite good.
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited January 2009
    Keiko wrote: »
    Not the new PS3's. They will however work with the 1st gen PS games.

    Really? So the newer PS3's will play PS1 games, but not PS2 games? That's kinda lame. I'm gonna tack that onto my "reasons that I don't want a PS3" list.

    That seems like a pretty poor marketing strategy, when all the other systems are backwards compatible.
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited January 2009
    Keiko wrote: »
    I think the reason they gutted the newer PS3 is to make it more affordable Curt. I got mine for 350.00 and although it doesn't do PS2 games, I'm pretty happy with it. You can get the PS2 consoles for around 100.00, sometimes less if you shop around.

    Well I suppose that makes sense. I'd think they'd still offer a version that had SACD playback though. It seems weird that it won't play PS2 games, but will play PS1 games though. If anything I'd think it should be the other way around...but oh well. I don't plan on ever getting a PS3 in either case anyway.

    I have been thinking about picking up a PS2 sometime though. My local Gamestop has used ones for 75 dollars IIRC. PS2 games are a dime a dozen now too. I'm not a huge gamer by any means, so it doesn't really make sense for me to spend that much money on a console. It'd probably only get about 3-4 hours of use a week. I have an Xbox, a Super Nintendo, and a Sega Genesis...and the only way that really ever gets any use anymore is the SNES. I haven't even had the Xbox hooked up for like 6 months now...lol
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
    Parasound HCA-1200II power amp
    PolkAudio LSi9's/PolkAudio SDA 2A's/PolkAudio Monitor 7A's
    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • wutadumsn23
    wutadumsn23 Posts: 3,702
    edited January 2009
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    I have an Xbox


    I knew you would eventually give me a reason to hate you Curt!!!! No desire for a PS3 either?? You are dead to me!! LOL
    HT Rig
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    Retired- Polk Audio Monitor 40's
    T.V.- 60" Sony SXRD KDS-60A2000 LCoS
    Blu-Ray- 80 GB PS3


    2 CH rig (in progress)
    Polk Audio Monitor 10A's :cool:

    It's not that I'm insensitive, I just don't care.. :D
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited January 2009
    wutadumsn23 wrote: »
    I knew you would eventually give me a reason to hate you Curt!!!! No desire for a PS3 either?? You are dead to me!! LOL

    lol...Yeah...I've had my Xbox for a long time now...probably about 8 years or so. It barely ever even gets used anymore...I've played all of my games to death. If I got some new ones I'd probably bust it back out though.;)

    I'll probably end up getting a PS3 eventually...but not until the PS4 is out or something. As I said...I'm not a gamer, so it's not worth it to me. I'd rather take the 300 bucks and spend it on some audio equipment.;) PS3's are awesome though...I'll give them that. I've only played one a few times before...it was pretty nice though.
    The nirvana inducer-
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    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
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    Audioquest Speaker Cables and IC's
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  • metal83
    metal83 Posts: 1,219
    edited January 2009
    I don't even use my PS3 for games, I just use it for Blu-rays (which i watch a lot of) and music. I like to play games on my Xbox 360 a lot more, but i like knowing that if something comes out exclusively for the PS3 that peaks my interest i could play it. It's definetly an awesome system to have whether you play games or not, considering all of the other functions it has.
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  • cheddar
    cheddar Posts: 2,390
    edited January 2009
    comfortablycurt wrote: »
    Well I suppose that makes sense. I'd think they'd still offer a version that had SACD playback though. It seems weird that it won't play PS2 games, but will play PS1 games though. If anything I'd think it should be the other way around...but oh well.

    PS1 games are a lot easier to emulate in software. PS2 games actually require the hardware of the PS2 to play properly. The 60GB basically has the guts of a PS2 inside it. So it does near 100% compatibility because Sony included a PS2 at a loss to early PS3 buyers inside the console. They had to cut costs to make it cheaper and bring their losses on hardware down, so they progressively cut PS2 hardware. First to part hardware, part software emulation in the 80GB, then when they released the 40GB last year, they took the last of the PS2 guts out along with the SACD compatibility. And all new PS3s since, regardless of hard drive size, no longer have SACD or PS2 capability.
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