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In Reply to: RE: High End Blu Ray players? Do they Exist? posted by billeames on February 22, 2014 at 18:23:42
Hello,
Thanks for your responses. My fears are confirmed that the mainstream high end is ignoring blu ray. I don't know why its not discussed more.
It may be worth $135,000 for Reference Blue but its beyond what I can pay. I can buy a Cadillac ELR for a mere $84,000. Even the cheap $17,000 Eidos 208D is high. I don't know price of Eidos 36u+. I am hoping that I did not miss the blu ray boat. Ayre and Krell discontinued their blu ray high end units. I am left to go to Costco and get one for $100. Or could go mid fi and get the Oppo or Cambridge Audio one. Thanks for looking though.
There is a showroom in New York City where I can look at some Goldmund products. I will be there in May. I am not millionaire audiophile, so I may quiver about the idea of going to Rhapsody Cinema (NYC Goldmund showroom).
The average person thinks its OK to spend a lot on a car, and thinks stereos beyond Best-Buy quality is a waste. I have heard this many times. (my opinion).
Bill
Follow Ups:
I don't have a ModWright modified Oppo players but others can fill in on how well they perform.
I have a Denon DVD-A1UDCI which can play Blu-ray and SACD but I guess this may not be "hi-end" for you.
Everyone is moving to asynchronous USB DAC or media servers made for 24 bits 96kHz/192kHz hi-res. download files. Some can even do DSD (and DSD over PCM for USB DAC). I bought a few of these Pure Audio Blu-ray discs but I don't see a very bright future.
Thanks for all the inputs. The oppo BD105 ($1200) is good and Primare BD32 (over $5000) was recommended by a dealer my friend knows. I can use the player I get as the transport and use built in DAC or digital out to my Simaudio Andromeda as a possibility. I am still not sure I am taking the plunge, but will look at it more seriously. Thanks for all the help.
Bill
By looking at the back panels, it looks like the Primare may be based on the Oppo - except for the AES/EBU digital output and the analog audio outputs they look very similar. May be they borrowed the BD-ROM drive and the video circuitry, etc. & upgraded the audio output and power supply? Just an observation.
Oppo BDP-95: http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-95/images/BDP-95-back-hr.jpg
Primare BP32: http://www.primare.net/assets/_managed/products/files/BD32backRGB.jpg
The audio board does not look that impressive compare to OPPO.
Bill,
the Primare looks promising for sure. It is pretty sweet that you have an Andromeda cd player.
Not really. Most have realized that a BD transport is not a good business prospect because improvements over commodity transports are unlikely. With HDMI output, the important players are the processors/DACs/video displays and those are being made. Classé made a clear statement about this when they chose not to succeed their DVD players with new BD players.
Hello,
I assume I would need to look for blu ray players that have HDMI outputs (all I assume), then DACS with HDMI inputs. Very few seem to have it (Classe, Krell, NAD seem to). I will look some more. I did not see any class A DACS with HDMI in Stereophile recommended components, a bit surprising. Thanks!
Bill
The NAD is the only "pure DAC" with an HDMI input that I know of but any prepro will do and you can choose according to your budget/taste.If you are into "high end," your easiest choice would be the Oppo BDP-105 with its excellent DACs and analog outputs, in addition to HDMI and S/PDIF. Even better would be the super MSB players/transports which are based on the Oppo platform but with many enhancements and improvements.
Edits: 02/24/14
Hello,
Excellent information. So would you say the best plan is to buy a Sony/Philips/Samsung etc Blu ray player at Costco, then a high end DAC? I wonder if the audio magazines made a comment on this, or where I can find that. I do subscribe TAS and Stereophile. Thanks for this.
Bill
transports are not nearly all the same.....
People who pile up listening experiences with transports, assert the opposite...
"Asylums with doors open wide,
Where people had paid to see inside,
For entertainment they watch his body twist
Behind his eyes he says, 'I still exist.'"
I know from personal experience!
I cannot recommend any specific choices among those for lack of experience. If I had to choose, I would look at construction/weight since mechanical device quality is the major factor. As an extreme example, I recently bought a $30 DVD player (don't ask why; long story) and it vibrated when on and made a ticking sound when playing. Returned it.
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