Pioneer Elite BDP-LX500

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Promotional pricing deals are always timed and scheduled by each manufacturer.

Beware, that most consumer electronics prices will increase even further very very soon as the new tariffs will be passed along to the USA importers, distributors and retailers.

That's not happy news Robert.

[Robert Zohn]

We all agree and I hated to even post it. But even bad news is important to know in advance whenever possible.

In the a/v cabinet business we just got increases from BDI and Salamander Designs and for a/v Pioneer just raised the dealer cost on the LX500. We also got warnings from Panasonic on pending increases due to the new USA tariffs.

Two things to realize on this second round of tariffs is that it effect goods made in the USA, Japan and other countries if any of the parts come from Chinese manufacturers. The other item to know is although this is technically a tariff on Chinese goods it directly effects prices of goods sold in the USA and is paid by USA citizens.

[LordoftheRings]

We live in tumultuous times ...

[Bcosta]

Sorry if this has been asked already, any plans to support HDR 10+?

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by Robert Zohn

Promotional pricing deals are always timed and scheduled by each manufacturer.

Beware, that most consumer electronics prices will increase even further very very soon as the new tariffs will be passed along to the USA importers, distributors and retailers.

And that is because almost 100% of consumer electronics is manufactured in China. Pioneer, Sony, and Panasonic all use high-end Chinese parts.

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by Bcosta

Sorry if this has been asked already, any plans to support HDR 10+?

I thought Pioneer was planning on coming out with a HDR10+ firmware update this year. Maybe Robert knows more information.

[Sloanthebone]

$755 on Amazon right now shipped from World Wide Stereo

[RalphoR]

That's an excellent price. Are they an authorized dealer?

[Sloanthebone]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

That's an excellent price. Are they an authorized dealer?

They are but the price is now $811. I am not sure what really drives Amazon's pricing but the price jumps up and down by the hour it seems, and that's from the same place (WWS). Best to set up an alert on camelcamelcamel.com for it.

[danny24]

Originally Posted by Sloanthebone

They are but the price is now $811. I am not sure what really drives Amazon's pricing but the price jumps up and down by the hour it seems, and that's from the same place (WWS). Best to set up an alert on camelcamelcamel.com for it.

Competition like the stock market, sellers selling high and low. Prices fluctuate constantly. My guess is bots or programs monitoring price trends and make adjustments. I noticed though they never match the phony marketplace sellers they must have a set low price on the program the sellers are using.

[RalphoR]

I bought mine from Robert a while ago and am really enjoying it but if someone's on the fence you can't beat that value.

[LordoftheRings]

I agree, around $750-800 it makes the decision easier, and without looking @ the Oppo 203 on eBay.

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by Sloanthebone

$755 on Amazon right now shipped from World Wide Stereo

The price keeps changing frequently ...
• https://www.worldwidestereo.com/prod...al-disc-player

[HDTV1080P]

The Pioneer is back up to $895 at that dealer. What normally happens is people start buying lots of players around $755 and as the inventory gets lower the price increases. If they get down to one or two players in inventory the price might go up to $1,099. Sometimes websites have automated artificial intelligence software that automatically adjusts the price based on inventory and how many players are being sold.

[LordoftheRings]

Automatic Artificial Intelligence software ... that's it. We just need to be smarter in our timing ... that's all.

[RalphoR]

If we were all smart we probably should have just bought a region free Sony UBP-X 800M2 and called it a day

[LordoftheRings]

...Or an Oppo 203 with a region-free kit...with a 77" OLED TV (Sony).
Plus a second player, the Panasonic 820 for the main front projection room (JVC).

And for more solidity make that the 205 and the 9000.

Tough digestion in the Pioneer LX500 thread ...

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

If we were all smart we probably should have just bought a region free Sony UBP-X 800M2 and called it a day

Because of the BDA licensing rules all North America Blu-ray players manufactured are required to be region A and region 1 locked. If these rules did not exist then manufactories could issue a firmware update for all Blu-ray players made since 2006 to make them region selectable (region free option in the menu). Movie studios like to use region codes to control what area of the world the movie is played in, since once and awhile a movie is being released in a commercial movie theater in one country when around the same time the movie is being released on Blu-ray and DVD in another country (would kill box office sales).


However its is still legal for third party companies to make region selectable kits and offer region free upgrade services. Its only the manufactories of Blu-ray players that are not allowed to do this since they signed a licensing agreement.


To my knowledge the easiest Blu-ray player to make region selectable with a third party kit is the OPPO Blu-ray players because the internal and external kits require no soldering (The OPPO was way to easy to make region selectable and that is one thing studios did not like about the OPPO). The last time I checked all other Blu-ray player brands and models are much more difficult to make region selectable and require soldering and modifications to the circuit board which voids the manufactories warranty. However places like Bombay electronics does offer the Pioneer UDP-LX500 with a region selectable hardware modification for $1,4999 that they claim is compatible with future firmware updates. The Sony UBP-X800M2 costs $489 from Bombay electronics with the region selectable options. Some region selectable updates are at risk for being disabled by a future firmware update, but many third party upgrade companies claim their kits are not effected by firmware updates.

[LordoftheRings]

The Sony X800M2 is a Mickey mouse player compare to the Oppo 203.

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

The Sony X800M2 is a Mickey mouse player compare to the Oppo 203.

To be fair the Sony is a cheaper player when compared to the OPPO. The Sony would be ideal for a bedroom home theater setup. For the main home theater room if one does not already own a OPPO UDP-203 then the Pioneer Blu-ray player would to the absolute best choice for build quality, HDR tone mapping, and SACD/DVD-Audio support.