Panasonic UB820/UB9000 4K UHD Blu-ray player

[sapiendut]

BTW, I use the 820 for my bedroom, matched with my Sony 55X900F LCD TV. I use the UB9000 in my HT matched to my JVC X790R projector which will soon be upgraded to X2000. For my Panasonic OLED 65FZ1000 I use last year’s UB900 player.

[IntelliVolume]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

BTW, I use the 820 for my bedroom, matched with my Sony 55X900F LCD TV. I use the UB9000 in my HT matched to my JVC X790R projector which will soon be upgraded to X2000. For my Panasonic OLED 65FZ1000 I use last year’s UB900 player.

Well, for a bedroom I wouldn't mind build quality or cosmetic issues too much, either, as to me, that's a secondary setup -- in fact, I'm still running Panasonic's first-generation Blu-ray player, the DMP-BD10A, in my bedroom connected to an LG 40" 1080p LCD. And THAT thing is a hunk of plastic (at least on the front plastic drop-down "door" panel thing Panasonic insists on using; the 820 has it also, and I think the 900 had it).

It's my PRIMARY setup I'm more concerned with having well-built, premium-esque gear (to a point) as I use that system almost every day.

You didn't answer my question about the 9000 -- how do you like it?

[sapiendut]

Oh I love the 9000 immensely. Its built like a tank and hefty too. I find that the HDMI output on the audio side is a little bit more spacious sounding (don’t know how can that happen). And of course it’s very quiet. For my home theatre, as my equipments are in a completely separate room, I actually don’t need the better cosmetics

[RalphoR]

What are you using the LX500 for if you already have a UB9000? What are your thoughts comparing the two? Thanks.

[sapiendut]

I use it in my living room together with my UB900 until my dad picks up the UB900. I listen to a lot of audio CD in my living room and the analog output from the LX500 is soooooooo good! I can almost retire my BDP-09 which I only use as a CD player.

Perhaps I will retire the BDP-09 as it is a slow as molasses to power up and load a CD

[IntelliVolume]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

Oh I love the 9000 immensely. Its built like a tank and hefty too. I find that the HDMI output on the audio side is a little bit more spacious sounding (don’t know how can that happen). And of course it’s very quiet. For my home theatre, as my equipments are in a completely separate room, I actually don’t need the better cosmetics

Yeah, the 9000 definitely would have been a consideration for me if it wasn't considerably outside our budget; in my mind, it's an easy Oppo 205 replacement.

As for the aesthetics, indeed I actually like to look at my gear while it's in action (my setup has my receiver and player in a more traditional living room configuration off to the right of the display in one of our entertainment center's pillars behind a glass-and-wood door, though I keep the door open when using the system so there's plenty of ventilation). So I can understand if your stuff is in another room and aesthetics don't matter as much...

Still, I wouldn't like the feel of the 820 no matter where it was located; the whole thing just screamed cheap to me when I inserted a disc or pressed down on the power/eject buttons...

[sapiendut]

I don’t know. I wouldn’t call it cheap but it’s the level of “you get what you pay for” as opposed to LG and Samsung looking “you’ll never get what you pay for”

[IntelliVolume]

Originally Posted by sapiendut

I don’t know. I wouldn’t call it cheap but it’s the level of “you get what you pay for” as opposed to LG and Samsung looking “you’ll never get what you pay for”

Well, I suppose we'll have to just agree to disagree; I didn't think the 820 shouted "you're getting what you pay for," unless looking at it from SOLELY a benefit-for-HDR-fanatics perspective. When a chassis flexes like it's a piece of plastic when you press the almost nonexistent power and eject buttons on top of it, there's something "cheap" about it in my mind...

But hey, to each their own.

[King Crimson]

Originally Posted by IntelliVolume

Well, I suppose we'll have to just agree to disagree; I didn't think the 820 shouted "you're getting what you pay for," unless looking at it from SOLELY a benefit-for-HDR-fanatics perspective. When a chassis flexes like it's a piece of plastic when you press the almost nonexistent power and eject buttons on top of it, there's something "cheap" about it in my mind...

But hey, to each their own.

[IntelliVolume]

Originally Posted by King Crimson

[King Crimson]

I mean I'll just straight say you're either lying or greatly exaggerating. Or maybe you're of those fed workers that smash their keyboard buttons and they wonder why the keyboard stopped working after a year.

Looks I'm just saying your physical descriptions of the build quality are wrong.

[IntelliVolume]

Originally Posted by King Crimson

I mean I'll just straight say you're either lying or greatly exaggerating. Or maybe you're of those fed workers that smash their keyboard buttons and they wonder why the keyboard stopped working after a year.

Looks I'm just saying your physical descriptions of the build quality are wrong.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha….

I'm LYING about the BUILD QUALITY of this player? And what would I have to get out of that? I have no stake in any other company/brand, nor am I in it to bad mouth Panasonic in any way (as I said, I own their first generation BD player, still, to this day, and I would have bought the 9000 if I could afford it).

To say I'm LYING or that I'm WRONG about the build quality of this machine is utterly ridiculous; all you have to do is PICK UP the thing to see how lightweight it is, to say nothing of the flexing plastic all over it.

I'm FAR FROM the ONLY human being on this planet that has used this player firsthand -- just Google the reviews about it -- and came out saying the build quality isn't fantastic.

Give me a break, man; just because someone has an opinion other than yours doesn't mean it's WRONG.

[King Crimson]

Originally Posted by IntelliVolume

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha….

I'm LYING about the BUILD QUALITY of this player? And what would I have to get out of that? I have no stake in any other company/brand, nor am I in it to bad mouth Panasonic in any way (as I said, I own their first generation BD player, still, to this day, and I would have bought the 9000 if I could afford it).

To say I'm LYING or that I'm WRONG about the build quality of this machine is utterly ridiculous; all you have to do is PICK UP the thing to see how lightweight it is, to say nothing of the flexing plastic all over it.

I'm FAR FROM the ONLY human being on this planet that has used this player firsthand -- just Google the reviews about it -- and came out saying the build quality isn't fantastic.

Give me a break, man; just because someone has an opinion other than yours doesn't mean it's WRONG.

Heavily edited:

Yes please. You are in the minority. Because there are just as many and more that say the exact opposite. I could care less honestly what you think of it. I just wanted to be informative to the people reading this thread that you either had a broken system or exaggerating or just a mix of all.

[IntelliVolume]

And, to set the record straight, Crimson, no I'm NOT one of those people who "smash their keyboard all day" and then declare it's broken -- I TREAT MY GEAR WITH THE UTMOST OF CARE, even being careful how I press the BUTTONS on the equipment, and I wipe them down with special electronics wipes every time I clean. I DID NOT smash, bang or otherwise abuse the 820 in the days I had it, so that's not why I felt the buttons and front panel were cheap or that the chassis flexed...

YOU'RE dead wrong about that.

[IntelliVolume]

Originally Posted by King Crimson

You claimed its loud. It's not

You claimed it vibratws. It doesn't. Shall I continue?

WHERE DID I CLAIM IT WAS LOUD OR THAT IT VIBRATED?

You have that WRONG, my friend -- I said the DISC DRAWER SEEMED CHEAP. And it DID to ME.

I NEVER SAID it was loud or that it "vibratwed" as you put it...get the facts right before you attack someone.

HERE'S what I said:

I didn't think the disc tray was remotely sturdy or even made well (the loader on my Cambridge is RIDICULOUSLY butter smooth and silent; it's like night and day, and even makes my old OPPO BDP-83's tray seem like a rackety haunted house in comparison), and I didn't care for the way the entire chassis seemed to "flex" when I pressed down on the eject or power keys on top (a ridiculous positioning, in my opinion).

[King Crimson]

Damn lol I got 2 people confused. 64% of what I said still stands ha!

[IntelliVolume]

Originally Posted by King Crimson

Damn lol I got 2 people confused. 64% of what I said still stands ha!

So you're being a dick to someone who has a different USER EXPERIENCE than you had, and you STILL stand true to it?

Wow. Incredible.

What "64-percent" as you see it "still stands true?"

I'm not allowed to say I believe the player was too plastic-like and would break after the slightest touch? THAT was MY observation, and just because you seem to disagree with it, it doesn't make it FALSE.

[King Crimson]

Originally Posted by IntelliVolume

So you're being a dick to someone who has a different USER EXPERIENCE than you had, and you STILL stand true to it?

Wow. Incredible.

What "64-percent" as you see it "still stands true?"

I'm not allowed to say I believe the player was too plastic-like and would break after the slightest touch? THAT was MY observation, and just because you seem to disagree with it, it doesn't make it FALSE.

Ok jokes aside now in all seriousness they way you describe what you are doing with it is man handling it. What exactly about the tray "makes it not look sturdy" What about pressing the button screams! "NOT WORTH 500!" And again unless you are seriously pressing UNNECESSARILY HARD your 820 shouldn't be flexing.

[IntelliVolume]

Originally Posted by King Crimson

Ok jokes aside now in all seriousness they way you describe what you are doing with it is man handling it. What exactly about the tray "makes it not look sturdy" What about pressing the button screams! "NOT WORTH 500!" And again unless you are seriously pressing UNNECESSARILY HARD your 820 shouldn't be flexing.

Did you even READ my post about the way I treat my home theater and audio gear? I'm not joking when I said I treat these pieces with kid gloves...if you don't believe me, you don't believe me.

What gives you the right to say I was "manhandling" this player or anything else I own? That's NOT what I do with my gear; I by no means MANHANDLED the 820 in any way.

It may have been the example I purchased, but the chassis of my 820 "bowed" a bit when I depressed the eject and power buttons on top...and I wasn't rough on the player, at all. The thing felt, to ME, like it was going to fall apart at the slightest mishandling, and its lack of a full-size component (rack size) bulk didn't impress me, either.

Now, keep in mind -- these are all MY opinions. Many here are getting good mileage out of their 820s, and some don't care about the aesthetics because their gear is in a different room from their viewing environment. MY priorities were on a more solidly-built deck, and that's why I chose to return the player for something I felt was "more worth it;" from what I was able to see, there was nothing wrong with the 820's DVD or Blu-ray upscaling performance, save for the fact that the player had no zooming function for full screen DVD playback and non-anamorphic DVD manipulation. These were major factors for me, and I didn't know the player didn't have these features before I bought.

If the 820 is working for you, that's great -- and I'm sure the HDR Optimizer is perfect for many using it for mainly UHD/HDR playback. Those features were also kind of lost on me, so they seemed a bit daunting to even operate, to be honest.

[fusion_400]

Has anyone compared the UB820 and UB9000 when it comes to the sound of the disc spinning in the drive? Please also test with the audio from the movie off and also compare the sound at the start of the movie playback where the disc is rotating much faster then later on especially the first 5-10min are pretty loud on the UB820.

And if so how much better is the UB9000 is it a night and day difference? It's alot of money to spend just to get a bluray 4k uhd player that is quiet.