Ultimate Blu-ray Player for Now

[bluewatergrigsby]

THis is a question for the Bly Ray perfectionist's who know the best of the best. I want ( since I sold my top of the line Toshiba HD) my first Blu Ray player that I will be happy with for the next few years. No PS3 votes, I'm a stand alone man.I don't need the most expensive but if it is I'm okay with that. My audio cables on my two channel reference system cost more than three Pioneer Kuro plasmas.
My choices are the Denon 3800BD, the Marantz BP 8002, the Sony BDP 550 or wait on the BDP S5000 ES, the Pioneer BDP 05 Elite or used BDP 95 ( I know some of you don't consider the 05 high end but just because it cost less doesn't mean the quality isn't there), or the new Yamaha S2900 when it comes out.
I'm using the Sony KDL 52 XBR4 and I know a lot consider plasma king but when I can watch the US Olympics in high def live and can count the shaved hair stubble on female Shawn Johnson's arm pit thats good enough for me.
Your knowledge of blu ray and opinions are greatly appreciated.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

Originally Posted by bluewatergrigsby

THis is a question for the Bly Ray perfectionist's who know the best of the best. I want ( since I sold my top of the line Toshiba HD) my first Blu Ray player that I will be happy with for the next few years. No PS3 votes, I'm a stand alone man.I don't need the most expensive but if it is I'm okay with that. My audio cables on my two channel reference system cost more than three Pioneer Kuro plasmas.
My choices are the Denon 3800BD, the Marantz BP 8002, the Sony BDP 550 or wait on the BDP S5000 Elite, the Pioneer BDP 05 Elite or used BDP 95 ( I know some of you don't consider the 05 high end but just because it cost less doesn't mean the quality isn't there), or the new Yamaha S2900 when it comes out.
I'm using the Sony KDL 52 XBR4 and I know a lot consider plasma king but when I can watch the US Olympics in high def live and can count the shaved hair stubble on female Shawn Johnson's arm pit thats good enough for me.
Your knowledge of blu ray and opinions are greatly appreciated.

It depends on what you wanna do with them. You pick whichever one pleases your eye. I'm a noob when it comes down to technical stuff. It'll be best to wait for someone else to help you out.

[djluis2k6]

It's really hard to take the PS3 out of consideration. Believe me, when I decided I wanted to go Blu, I strongly considered only a stand alone player because there were no games on PS3 that I liked. Of course at this time, only the $999 version of the Sony BD Player existed, but I still considered it. But in the end, I decided to go with the PS3. You just get more value for your money, whether or not you plan to play games on it. 1 year later, I still only have 2 PS3 games, but 66 Blu-Ray title. I know you said no PS3 votes, but you should really consider the PS3 as an option.

[scweb13]

Originally Posted by djluis2k6

It's really hard to take the PS3 out of consideration. Believe me, when I decided I wanted to go Blu, I strongly considered only a stand alone player because there were no games on PS3 that I liked. Of course at this time, only the $999 version of the Sony BD Player existed, but I still considered it. But in the end, I decided to go with the PS3. You just get more value for your money, whether or not you plan to play games on it. 1 year later, I still only have 2 PS3 games, but 66 Blu-Ray title. I know you said no PS3 votes, but you should really consider the PS3 as an option.

If the guy says no PS3 votes, why do you have to be the guy who does it anyways?? It's a good player for the money but it's not the best.

I'd go with the Pioneer Elite 05 player out of the OP list. The Denon and Marantz both sound good too.

[sarge1976]

yeah,I have the sony bdp-S500 but I am also holding out to get a new bd player and it will be the S550,whenever they decide to quit teasing us and release the damn thing already!

[JadedRaverLA]

Seriously, are some people on here viral marketers for SPE or something? Must we shove the PS3 down everyone's throat after they've made it clear they aren't interested?

Originally Posted by bluewatergrigsby

THis is a question for the Bly Ray perfectionist's who know the best of the best. I want ( since I sold my top of the line Toshiba HD) my first Blu Ray player that I will be happy with for the next few years. No PS3 votes, I'm a stand alone man.I don't need the most expensive but if it is I'm okay with that. My audio cables on my two channel reference system cost more than three Pioneer Kuro plasmas.
My choices are the Denon 3800BD, the Marantz BP 8002, the Sony BDP 550 or wait on the BDP S5000 Elite, the Pioneer BDP 05 Elite or used BDP 95 ( I know some of you don't consider the 05 high end but just because it cost less doesn't mean the quality isn't there), or the new Yamaha S2900 when it comes out.

As you point out, there's several very good choices recently out... and many more coming soon. (Minor detail, the BDP-S5000 is a Sony model, not Pioneer, so its ES-series not Elite, though I imagine that was just a typo.)

Without knowing your exact needs regarding audio connectivity and features such as BD-Live, etc, it's a bit tough to give advice, but here goes anyway.

If you need to use the analog outputs and don't care about BD-Live, I'd go with the Denon or Marantz (which are really the same design). They have the best DVD upscaling on the market currently, also, if that matters to you. They are (at least with the current firmware) still a bit "glitchy," though hopefully the remaining issues will be corrected with an update.

The upcoming Sony BDP-S550 and BDP-S5000 are both looking like very good BD-Live capable players, and should be a good choice if your receiver can handle the decoded audio over HDMI. I'd lean toward the S5000 if only for the much-improved build quality, personally. The upcoming Panasonic BD55 fits this bill, also. As neither are out, it's tough to make a call between the BD55 and the S550.

Overall, though, if price isn't much of a factor, then I'd probably wait on the Elite BDP-09FD. If you need the mutli-channel analog outs, they should be better than anything on the market, it's got full BD-Live capability, terrific build quality, and excellent video processing -- all for about the price of the current Denon and Marantz players. I've heard various dates thrown around, but all that is being officially promised as far as release date is "this fall."

Hope that helps.

[gekke henkie]

Chris Walkamo, the one in Pioneer's press release (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...nd+Performance) said at AVS it will be available from early December.

[bluewatergrigsby]

Good onfo. What I'm looking for is best picture qualiy both Blu Ray and upscaling.I'm not into BD Live or the new high tech features ( yet ) .Best picture and great audio through my 5.1 suround.
But still waiting on info from people who own some of these players or some earlier models.

[jibucha]

Hello

From press releases, these are the two most interesting Blu-ray Player's to consider; as I myself am considering.

The Yamaha S2900 might be an additional consideration, but certainly not as interesting as these two player's, given the information already available regarding their respective audio and video potential.

Regarding the Denon DVD-3800BD; I have seen it and find the three players [Pioneer - Sony - Yamaha] to be of more interest until I am able to compare all of them at one time.

I already find it difficult to believe that these will not be the best of the best in Blu-ray Player's when viewed on the best displays available calibrated.

I just do not see other player's being competitive, given the obvious effort by these two companies to make an outstanding player, based on preliminary information.

I would do as I intend to do; acquire both and make a decision at home. To make this level of decision without comparisons at home yourself, would be a serious mistake as I perceive things. I cannot wait to do so myself.

Your only requirement is the patience to wait until they are available before making a consideration.

Thank You

[bluewatergrigsby]

Any guys out there who actually own any of these and can give an actual true to life opinion.

[RUR]

Originally Posted by bluewatergrigsby

Any guys out there who actually own any of these and can give an actual true to life opinion.

PQ and AQ (I'm using analogue outs) from the Denon 3800 are superb. See Kris Deering's comments from HTM here: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=59755

[bootman]

The Denon has the realta which is on even with bluray titles.
Find a good dealer who will let you test it to see if it is the match you are looking for in your system.

As far as PS3 pushing here, well most here are not videophiles in the strictest sense.
If you hang around long enough you will be able to spot those who knows that a PS3 feeding a 32" LCD at 15' is not a true 1080p bluray viewing experience.

[btf1980]

What kind of processor or receiver do you have? If you have one that will decode DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD, then I think a transport is all you need. I use the Denon 2500BTCI and it's wonderful.

[btf1980]

Originally Posted by bootman

If you hang around long enough you will be able to spot those who knows that a PS3 feeding a 32" LCD at 15' is not a true 1080p bluray viewing experience.

It's not??

[bootman]

Originally Posted by btf1980

It's not??

No, it isn't.
(unless you are watching from 4 feet away)

[Blu-RayLover]

Right now, I’d say it’s a toss-up between the Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD and Sony’s BDP-S5000ES. Denon, won’t be in the running until sometime next year, with a new top-of-the-line player that replaces their current huge player, model 3800. As for the Marantz 8002, it’s essentially the Denon, because it’s made by the same company. These new players will have full capability on the 7.1 analog outputs. The players also are said to have the best video/audio processors available and promise to out perform all other players on this level, especially if the use entails connecting to a projector, where the real differences come into play. While, we have to be realistic that the Pioneer 09 and Sony 5000ES will be expensive, certainly anyone who can cough up 2000 dollars will be getting what is the best (overall) quality available. These are two players that aren’t for the average or even advanced audio/videophile, but for somebody who is really prone to understanding that sometimes, money can buy you the best there is to consider. I’m not all that thrilled that these players are priced so high, but who knows, maybe, just maybe there might be some retailer who will become bored or upset about the 09 or 5000ES not moving off the shelf and on that day I happened to walk in and I get 30 percent off the list price! After all, miracles can happen.

[SkillzthatKillz]

Originally Posted by bootman

The Denon has the realta which is on even with bluray titles.
Find a good dealer who will let you test it to see if it is the match you are looking for in your system.

As far as PS3 pushing here, well most here are not videophiles in the strictest sense.
If you hang around long enough you will be able to spot those who knows that a PS3 feeding a 32" LCD at 15' is not a true 1080p bluray viewing experience.

sorry buddy not to be a dick but many HT sites have done head to heads and they say the ps3 is arguably the beset BD player out there...it loads the fastest, has ALL of the features, and they even said it had one of the sharpest pictures out of any of the players...the only thing it doesnt have would be multi-channel analog outs for older AV receivers

[SkillzthatKillz]

oh sorry about the ps3 rant...i think if you can wait the new pioneer player everyone is raving about will be your best option for getting a truly high end experience...the thing weighs almost 50 lbs...it has to be good!

[adkinsse54]

Originally Posted by SkillzthatKillz

oh sorry about the ps3 rant...i think if you can wait the new pioneer player everyone is raving about will be your best option for getting a truly high end experience...the thing weighs almost 50 lbs...it has to be good!

If it is anything like the current 05 or 51........I'll pass!

[stick99]

Hi there I have PS3, it's not nearly the best for a movie lover especially if you use a full Home theater set-up with Seperates. PS3 makes a good second player, you can't tweak the picture, it's only PCM and it looks odd on a Home Theater shelve. If playing SD Dvd's is an option the Denon/Marantz is the way to go, I've seen them and they look better than my Oppo 983H, and man can you fine tune the picture. If you have a seperate DVD player currently, save a $1000 and either do with Denon 2500 Blu ray transport, or the new Pioneer Elite $799, they have from what i've seen a flawless picture.