No Arcam BD Player Until 2009

[Jodi]

Yesterday (7 March 08), I talked with an Arcam representative at their North American headquarters, Audiophile Systems, Ltd., in Indianapolis. (Arcam is one of a number of high-end audio manufacturers that make up a global confederacy known as Audiophile Systems, Ltd.)
Those of you that are waiting for the "big dogs" on the high-end audio porch (like myself) to begin unleashing true, bulletproof BD players will be interested in reading this.
He says that although Arcam has been researching high-definition video for about three years, they (like many other electronics manufacturers) wanted to wait for the format war (Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD) to be settled and over with.
Now that the war is over, they are pushing full-speed ahead with their first BD player. But it won't be until 2009 at the earliest. He says he would be surprised if Arcam showed off a first BD player at the Vegas CES in January 2009.
He did give excessively high praise for Sony's PlayStation 3 as a BD player!! He commented that the PS3, functionally, is the best BD player out there. PERIOD. He says he likes the PQ and SQ of the PS3, but he has seen and heard better stand-alone BD players. He added, "...and you get a game system to boot..." He says (as ALL Arcam products are built from the ground up) that they do strive for an absolutely bulletproof BD player of their own that would eclipse the PS3 in PQ and SQ (as hard-core audio- and videophiles would expect from Arcam).
I personally look forward to that first Arcam BD player. The current models of standard DVD players (both in the DiVa line and in the FMJ line), however, are no slouches!! They are among the best looking and sounding sDVD players for the money (ranging from $999 to $2999) IMHO.
So, just letting you all know.

Jodi

[JimPullan]

Hi Jodi,

I concur with your post. Not only am I a Dealer for Arcam, I am an owner of their fmj CD-36 192/24 Upsampling CD Player. In my opinion, the finest available, under the $ 3,000.00 price point. Their fmj DVD Player is top notch as well. Both products have received steller reviews worldwide. [Jim]

Originally Posted by Jodi

Yesterday (7 March 08), I talked with an Arcam representative at their North American headquarters, Audiophile Systems, Ltd., in Indianapolis. (Arcam is one of a number of high-end audio manufacturers that make up a global confederacy known as Audiophile Systems, Ltd.)
Those of you that are waiting for the "big dogs" on the high-end audio porch (like myself) to begin unleashing true, bulletproof BD players will be interested in reading this.
He says that although Arcam has been researching high-definition video for about three years, they (like many other electronics manufacturers) wanted to wait for the format war (Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD) to be settled and over with.
Now that the war is over, they are pushing full-speed ahead with their first BD player. But it won't be until 2009 at the earliest. He says he would be surprised if Arcam showed off a first BD player at the Vegas CES in January 2009.
He did give excessively high praise for Sony's PlayStation 3 as a BD player!! He commented that the PS3, functionally, is the best BD player out there. PERIOD. He says he likes the PQ and SQ of the PS3, but he has seen and heard better stand-alone BD players. He added, "...and you get a game system to boot..." He says (as ALL Arcam products are built from the ground up) that they do strive for an absolutely bulletproof BD player of their own that would eclipse the PS3 in PQ and SQ (as hard-core audio- and videophiles would expect from Arcam).
I personally look forward to that first Arcam BD player. The current models of standard DVD players (both in the DiVa line and in the FMJ line), however, are no slouches!! They are among the best looking and sounding sDVD players for the money (ranging from $999 to $2999) IMHO.
So, just letting you all know.

Jodi

[Kilian]

Thanks for the news. 2009-2010 is within my expectation. Was it John Dawson himself you spoke to?

Given their stance on audio via HDMI I wonder what their current position is and what they'll do for the BD player (internal decoding? SACD/DVD-A?) and new receivers.

[musicman1999]

Arcam make fine players, i auditioned the DV-137 last year when i was looking for a new player and while i went in a different direction it was very good.I would look forward to seeing a blu player from them.

bill

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by Jodi

He says he likes the PQ and SQ of the PS3, but he has seen and heard better stand-alone BD players. He added, "...and you get a game system to boot..." He says (as ALL Arcam products are built from the ground up) that they do strive for an absolutely bulletproof BD player of their own that would eclipse the PS3 in PQ and SQ (as hard-core audio- and videophiles would expect from Arcam).

How wierd is it to have Arcam talking about beating a game box?

I'm not sure (assuming the PS/3 gets DTS-HD MA decoding) short of guaranteeing no jitter on the LPCM (if it occurs at all), how they can beat the audio.

The video obviously has a few opportunities.

Gary

[musicman1999]

I would think the opposite, the audio is where the biggest difference should be.There is a lot more to great audio than the ability to decode a format.

bill

[Woody]

I am more concerned with their lack of support for Hi-res audio in their receivers, and pre/pros.

Arcam is alot like most other mid-high end manufacturers that dont like the HDMI connection and its varying "profiles".

Which sucks.