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High End 4K Bluray Player Suggestions?

Dismayed

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Checked Crutchfield just for grins and the Oppo UDP-203 is ~$560, Sony UBP-X800 is ~$280. So yes huge difference, 2x! At that price I would have just gotten the Sony. When I got mine the Oppo was $499 and Sony $399 IIRC. Both were new, and the Sony was out of stock almost everywhere, so I'm guessing there was some price gouging. Note I am talking about the Oppo 203, not the more expensive "audiophile" 205. The 205 adds some additional features beyond the improved analog outputs and is ~$1299. (All prices USD.) A little vexing that Crutchfield is charging a premium vs. ordering online direct from Oppo.

Faith was poor word choice. The evidence is that Oppo has been far better than Sony at providing support and firmware updates. Sony? Ypu’d Best hope that they got it right on release.
 

NorthSky

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They have a good track record. We base values on track records.

But the word faith is a very good word, probably the most important word in the world. So I won't object using it, to the contrary, I highly appreciate you mentioning it.
 

DonH56

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Faith was poor word choice. The evidence is that Oppo has been far better than Sony at providing support and firmware updates. Sony? You’d Best hope that they got it right on release.

Yes, that was one of my biggest concerns, and IIRC there were some bugs in the Sony FW at the time (this was a year, maybe 18 months ago). AFAIK Sony did release an update that fixed them but like you my experience has been their updates are few. The Oppo also had some bugs, fixed with a FW update, but they have also added features and improved the performance through a fairly continuous stream of updates. So 2x the price for something that lasts 2x as long is OK with me. Though again at the time the retail prices I found were only $100 apart, and the best deals I found put the Oppo within $50 of the Sony, so it was easy for me to pick Oppo. Can't say if there was gouging back then or if there has been a price drop since due to all the competition. I did wait until the initial FW bugs were worked out of the Oppo. I am rarely an early adopter but had new speakers, new 4K TV, and a broken Oppo so let "want" override "need". :)

When I bought mine, there were only a few 4k players that also offered SACDs, and only a very few in the $500 and under range. Heck, even some of the pricey $5k and up players did not handle SACDs and that was one of my "must-have" features (blame @Kal Rubinson for sucking me into multichannel, but it's a great ride, and I thank him for it).
 
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Fitzcaraldo215

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Faith was poor word choice. The evidence is that Oppo has been far better than Sony at providing support and firmware updates. Sony? Ypu’d Best hope that they got it right on release.
I have had a string of Oppos going back over a decade. I have found them to be an exemplary manufacturer in terms of cost-effective product quality and my very few requests for customer service. Online forums have amplified that in spades. They have set the bar high, and many hi endy manufacturers only wish they could get even close to Oppo's high standards.

They might not stand out in features like they once did. They came out of nowhere and put the universal player concept on the map for good, with the competition struggling to keep pace on features and eventually on reduced prices. They also broke the mold on making the online direct sales paradigm a huge success, forcing retailers to shift gears and adapt (except for Crutchfield, apparently). And, they absolutely killed many boat anchor BD/SACD players from Denon/Marantz and others at $2k and even much more.

So, I remain a loyalist to Oppo and the benchmark they set. Just as good for less money, all things considered, is possible, but questionable. Better seems impossible.
 

Dismayed

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They have a good track record. We base values on track records.

But the word faith is a very good word, probably the most important word in the world. So I won't object using it, to the contrary, I highly appreciate you mentioning it.

Faith is belief when there is no evidence. So what I am actually doing is extrapolating past behavior into the future.
 

NorthSky

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I know that. I own several Sony SACD players, including the 800, and the oldest ones still work like brand new. We're talking fifteen years here.
Oppo I'm new, only five years, and no problemo there either.

I would like to see measurements for the Sony 800. I'll Google more around the world, and if I find some I'll post them right here.
Remember, the Sony 800 has the mind of a top Sony video engineer behind, simple and top performance. It is fine-tuned by a pro for top-notch video performance. And it is also the first ever Sony product that can play DVD-Audio. In addition to SACD of course. So it is truly for the first time ever in the lifetime of Sony, a Universal 4K Blu-ray player. Not too shabby Sony, and for only a song, this song:


http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/sony-ubp-x800

" Video "
"4K picture resolution is first-class. The player delivers every scintilla of detail from a 4K resolution test disc, so you can be sure it will do the same for your 4K movies. The player interpolates UHD with 4:4:4 sub-sampling.

Images are astoundingly sharp, with no undue artefacts or distractions. Colour rendering is accurate. We’re told the deck has been tuned with input from creatives at Sony Pictures Entertainment, and they’ve clearly done a great job.

Much like its H1 predecessor, the UBP-X800 also looks superb with 2K Blu-rays. It portrays detail without a hint of ringing or unwanted emphasis, yet maintains extraordinary fine detail. To say The Force Awaken’s world of Jakku looks naturalistic may sound odd, what with its shattered AT-AT and alien market place, but there’s no processing artifice about the image."

" Audio "
"Of course, video is only half the appeal of the UBP-X800. This universal disc player boasts proper High-Res Audio credentials, and is at home with both DVD-Audio and Super Audio CDs.

The 5.1 DVD-A remix of The Prophet’s Song (Queen, A Night at the Opera) is revealed as a stunning example of this under-appreciated multi-channel format. Mercury’s vocal canon pings from speaker to speaker, engulfing the listening position; it’s a Hi-Res prog-rock treat.

SACD recordings are delivered with comparable clarity. Obscure Japanese jazz releases from the late 1990s – of which I inexplicably have many – evoke hotel bars with lazy vocals and late-night beats. You can confidently partner this player with premium audio kit."


 
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jhaider

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Can't say if there was gouging back then or if there has been a price drop since due to all the competition. I did wait until the initial FW bugs were worked out of the Oppo. I am rarely an early adopter but had new speakers, new 4K TV, and a broken Oppo so let "want" override "need". :)

I think the Sony X800 followed the typical Japanese mid-tier audio price cycle. New release, MSRP only. a few months later we when I bought ours it was widely available at a large discount from MSRP ($150). Maybe that was just a holiday season sale, because now it looks like it's $200 on Amazon. Maybe Oppo had an intro price of $500 but it has been $550 or so every time I looked.

It is amazing how many of the UHD players on the market lack DVD-A and SACD playback. I think Sony and OPPO are the only two companies offering a complete UHD transport. I suppose there are some OPPO repackagers as well, but I don't count them. Sony seems to have dropped the ball with their 2018 players, which means that Sony may just be a detour from OPPOland for some of us when our current players break!

With either option, it's just a disk transport, and probably one of the least expensive components in any of our systems. As long as it works, it works.
 

NorthSky

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Comparison Table:
PLAYER | PRICE | 4K* | HDR | WI-FI | 3D | 1080P | WEIGHT
OPPO UDP-203
$559 Yes (N/U) Yes Yes Yes Yes 16lbs
Samsung UBD-M9000 $370 Yes (N/U) Yes Yes No No 4lbs
LG UP970 $227 Yes (U) Yes Yes Yes No 4lbs
Samsung UBD-K8500 $180 Yes (N/U) Yes Yes Yes No 7.5lbs
Cambridge Audio CXUHD $918 Yes (N) Yes Yes Yes Yes 11lbs
OPPO UDP-205 $1,309 Yes (N/U) Yes Yes Yes Yes 30lbs
Pioneer BDP-LX58 $1,164 Yes (U) Yes No Yes Yes 21.8lbs
Panasonic DMP-UB700 $420 Yes (N) Yes Yes No No 5lbs
Sony UDP-X800 $298 Yes (N) Yes Yes Yes No 8.7lbs
Panasonic DMP-UB200 $231 Yes (N/U) Yes Yes No No 2.9lbs
Philips BDP7502 $200 Yes (U) Yes Yes Non No 3.75lbs
Panasonic DMP-BDT370 $110 Yes (U) No Yes Yes No 2.65lbs
Sony BDP-S6700 $88 Yes (U) No Yes Yes No 3.1lbs
Sony UHP-H1 $167 Yes (U) No Yes No No 3lbs
Samsung BD-J7500 $105 Yes (U) No Yes Yes No 1.9lbs
Sony BDP-S3700 $68 No No Yes Yes Yes 1.8lbs
Goldmund Eidos Ref. Blue $135K No No No No Yes 180lbs

*4K = In this column, U denotes the ability to upscale to 4K. N denotes the ability to play 4K UHD discs
 

NorthSky

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In case someone ask about the Sony X800's replacement:
http://www.areadvd.de/tests/test-sony-ultra-hd-blu-ray-player-ubp-x700-gut-und-guenstig/

* Sometimes I visit audio and video stores; there are still a bunch of them on the island where I live, even high-end audio stores.
...And the best TVs from Sony, LG and Samsung. ...And even hi-end front projectors and pre/pros and speakers and mono amplifiers.
I can have everything I want, almost. I can test drive some of the top demos, I have good collateral.

When I saw the 4K Blu-ray players from Philips, LG, Samsung, Panasonic, and that new Sony X700, the first thing that crossed my mind was how lightweigt, plastic cheaply built they were. Most of them don't have a front panel display, very limited amount of jacks on the back, mini remote control, cheap AC power cord, ...brief the type of components I have zero interest in. They don't inspire confidence, zero. And they certainly don't inspire reliability, and when it's time to get help or support or service, do you think they care, most of them are trained for main answers only...like plug the player before pressing play.
Today the internet is your service provider for all your products. Phones are obsolete, websites are en vogue.

If you live in Boston, Montreal, Chicago, Toronto, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Miami, Dubai, Vancouver, Seattle, Singapore or Bangkok, and you happen to stumbled on the Sony X700 player, you'll understand what I just said above. It looks like a toy from Toys R Us.

This is not Ultra Hi End, this is the bottom line. But that review from above; they liked it. And we all know that Germany makes the best steel products...
 
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