best Blue Ray dvd with 6 speaker surround sound

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deadman

40 posts

Geek

#31429 17-Mar-2009 15:43

Hi guys
Does anyone have any ideas as to which is the best Blue Ray 6 speaker dvd player? i like sony equipment but if there is any better i would like to know.
Ta
Deadman

KracsNZ

57 posts

Master Geek

#201706 17-Mar-2009 19:14

Nearly all, espeacially recent, BDPs support upto 7.1 channel surround.

What exactly are you asking? BDPs with decent 7.1 channel analog outs? Then one like the Sony S550 ($800) would work.

Other than that any BDP should suit your needs depending on your current receiver.

deadman

40 posts

Geek

#201712 17-Mar-2009 19:32

Thanks for the quick reply sorry should of said 7.1 surround sound. question was what is the best system out to date ?

KracsNZ

57 posts

Master Geek

#201834 18-Mar-2009 07:39

That's extremely subjective and depends on the features you want and the price range...

A PS3 is an very good blu-ray player, a decent upscaler, a very good games machine, an ok media centre and an internet appliance for around $700. Requires your AVR to support HDMI and only supports lossless multi-channel audio via LPCM (not bitstream) so decodes all the lossless formats.

The Sony S550 is a very good BDP. Has 192/24bit DACs to support multi-channel analog outs if your AVR doesn't support HDMI. Supports LPCM and bitstream of the lossless. Around $800.00 atm.

Could wait for the Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD to arrive in NZ. Be one of the best upscaling players available, has many blu-ray image processing abilities and very high quality DACs for analog outs. Even has two balanced outputs for the audiophiles. Be several thousand dollars when it does arrive, it's a USD$2k player.

However if you just want a cheaper BDP that plays blu-ray movies just fine (would require HDMI for lossless audio though), then there's quite a few to choose from. I'd suggest reading the blu-ray player section on AV science. You'll get end user feedback on each of the players available. Most of the current generation players will be just fine for your blu-ray needs. The upscaling of DVDs will vary between units and price ranges though. The units with Reon, Realta and Marvel chipsets will be very high quality upscalers.

Jaxson

8042 posts

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#201864 18-Mar-2009 09:41

Yeah with due respect, all the bluray players are aimed at different uses, so it's a pretty broad question you're asking.

With regards to HD audio, then you'll either need to buy an expensive bluray player which decodes this for you (and the PS3 is in this group too), or a cheaper one paired with a more expensive receiver to do the decoding. Personally there's no real need for the more expensive players if you have a good receiver to do the decoding.

With regards load times of the discs, I still don't think you can go past the PS3, but I haven't checked out the new ones yet, they may now be faster. PS3 does bluray very well, and to the point where 99% of people won't notice the apparently better video output of the newer flasher stand alone bluray players.

PS3 doesn't have IR remote though, so it's hard to work it into a universal remote.

In my opinion, if you just want bluray video, then a cheaper bluray player could be ok. If you want HD audio you'll need a more expensive receiver to go with this cheaper player.

Be warned though, it's a slippery slope, once you get the player you'll almost inevitably want to upgrade the receiver later too for the HD audio.

KracsNZ

57 posts

Master Geek

#201868 18-Mar-2009 10:10

Yeah, Jaxon hit the nail on the head there. Once you start you won't want, or be able, to stop lol. Upgraditis is catchy :).

So hard to give decent advice on this topic without knowing what your current setup is, espeacially your receiver and TV.

KellyP

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#202553 22-Mar-2009 00:14

KracsNZ: Nearly all, espeacially recent, BDPs support upto 7.1 channel surround.

What exactly are you asking? BDPs with decent 7.1 channel analog outs? Then one like the Sony S550 ($800) would work.

Other than that any BDP should suit your needs depending on your current receiver.

I'm also in the market for a blu-ray player and I've narrowed my search down to the S550 or the PS3.

Something I'm not getting though, the Sony S550 has analogue 7.1 ports at the back to connect to older HT's, yet most HT I've seen come with non-RCA speakers. Do better speakers (non out of the box) come with RCA interface?

Apart from the analogue inputs at the back, can the PS3 do everything that the S550 does? and is the PS3 upgradeable to BD profile 2.0?

KellyP

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#202556 22-Mar-2009 02:32

Jaxson:
PS3 doesn't have IR remote though, so it's hard to work it into a universal remote.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/20/logitech-harmony-adapter-for-playstation-3-get-official/

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Jaxson

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#202565 22-Mar-2009 08:45

James Bond:

Something I'm not getting though, the Sony S550 has analogue 7.1 ports at the back to connect to older HT's, yet most HT I've seen come with non-RCA speakers. Do better speakers (non out of the box) come with RCA interface?

Apart from the analogue inputs at the back, can the PS3 do everything that the S550 does? and is the PS3 upgradeable to BD profile 2.0?

NO SPEAKERS CONNECT DIRECTLY TO THE BLURAY PLAYER RCA OUTPUTS.

The RCA out's are signals that feed into a separate amplifier/receiver with suitable 5.1 or 7.1 analogue inputs available on the back.

PS3 is fully up to date with Bluray profiles and HD audio decoding. You will need to connect online to update your PS3 if you buy one.

That device looks cool, but that's what I was getting at, you need to do some extra work to integrate the PS3 into a universal remote. Some see this as a weakness. I haven't looked into load times of the newer bluray players coming out, but the old ones were quite slow compared to the PS3.

lchiu7

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#202567 22-Mar-2009 08:55

If you're going to spend $700 get a PS3. I have had mine since June 2007 and it hasn't missed a beat. Sony's firmware upgrade policies means it is always being improved. Some of the big things I have seen since its introduction are

- handling DTS HD Master (one of the first players to do so internally)
- improved upscaling features for DVD's and now extended to playing video content via the XMB
- first player to have BD Profile 2.0 though I don't find that useful

As for the remote, well I just use a $20 USB IR dongle which works well enough with my Harmony 880

One of the neat features thse days I am using is its ability to play AVCHD content off a USB drive. I have backed up a few BD titles to a hard drive in the AVCD container (put about 4-5 titles on a drive), plug that into the USB port and the PS3 plays the content with lossless audio and full resolution video. Saves having to put in a disc all the time.

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