Cambridge Azur 751BD Universal Blu-ray player (December 2011 Widescreen Review)

[HDTV1080P]

Cambridge Azur 751BD Universal Blu-ray player

(December 2011 Widescreen Review magazine)

On pages 16-19 of the December 2011 Widescreen Review magazine is a review of the $1,249 Cambridge Azur 751BD that has menus similar to an OPPO player but the player is not an OPPO clone according to the review. This Cambridge Azur 751BD is for someone that wants high quality analog outputs for critical SACD and DVD-Audio listening with the ability to play their favorite Blu-ray music discs or movies.

The following are select word for word quotes from the December 2011 Widescreen Review magazine (Review located on pages 16-19)

“When I first powered up the Cambridge Azur 751BD universal disc player and entered the setup menu, it was obvious the menus were identical to the menus used in the OPPO universal disc players. That immediately made me think this was yet another disc player with OPPO “guts” and a different brand name on the front. But the reality is something else entirely. The blue circuit boards are clearly identified as “Cambridge” circuit boards and they are clearly not laid out the same as the boards in OPPO players.”

“Because Cambridge player has the same rear panel connection layout and the same menus, it’s possible to jump to conclusion that the Azur 751BD is just an alternative dressed OPPO player. But as already described, there are features that do not exist in either of the current OPPO disc players. Designing something as complex as a universal disc player from scratch is a fool’s errand. It is simply too complex and specialized of a job for each manufacturer to design a product like this from the ground up, making everything unique. The resources and time required to design a reliable universal disc player from scratch would be cost prohibitive. If you go Cambridge’s route and work with a manufacturer (MediaTek in this case), who has a proven chip set that is capable of doing everything you want your product to do, you run the risk of being identified as a “clone” of some other disc player. But it appears Cambridge was well aware of the public relations nightmare that spins out of control when a company drops a (relatively) moderately priced Blu-ray Disc player in their own box and jacks up the price. So they didn’t do that. In fact, to prove they didn’t do that, they have published photos of the inside of the 751BD on their Web site for all to see and compare to the innards of an OPPO or even other brands of disc players."

"Verdict? The 751BD is not an OPPO clone at a high price. Cambridge started with a proven chip set and built a unique product around that chip set.”

“It was a pleasure to hear my collection of SA-CDs and DVD-Audio discs sound their best yet."

"The Azur 751BD is enthusiastically recommended for those who can benefit from the high-performance analog outputs and the excellent Anagram upconversion, upsampling, and jitter removal.”