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Panasonic 2018 flagship UB9000 Blu-ray player launching at Value Electronics

Robert Zohn

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Here's some very good Panasonic news....

Panasonic will be launching the highly anticipated ultra high end BD/CD/Hi Res audio player in the USA this October. They wanted hit a price point that would be compelling for the enthusiasts to be happy with and to attract new clients to the world of high-end streaming and disc playback. To that end we came up with a launch price of $999.

Equipped with stereo XLR balanced audio outputs and accompanied with 7.1 RCA audio and digital audio outs.

Our dedicated UB9000 web page has more information.

Very nice back-lit remote control.

The UB9000 has exceptional build quality.

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Here's a pic of the HDMI set-up menus for the HDMI output that is marked for "audio only". As you can see it's configurable to your system's needs.

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Here's a few more pic from various user menus. This new advanced technology BD player/streamer is very technical and is best purchased from a speciality dealer who can support all of the advanced features so the enthusiast user gets all of the value and benefit this player can deliver when set-up properly for each a/v system.

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DonH56

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Hopefully a worthy replacement product for Oppo lovers!

Sooo... When are you shipping one to Amir to measure? :)
 

The Dragon

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Will it play SACDs? If so, will the HDMI output DSD signal? Multi-channel SACD?
 
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Robert Zohn

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Correct, no SACD support on the UB9000 or UB820. SACD was a Sony product.
 

Dialectic

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Correct, no SACD support on the UB9000 or UB820. SACD was a Sony product.

SACD was invented by Sony, but it's still around in the classical realm and is not a dead format. Other companies still make SACD players, and it remains the most affordable lawful way to obtain higher than CD quality audio.

This Panasonic player is plainly not ultra high end, at least in the traditional sense. Lacking SACD playback support and a USB DAC, it is not going to be a replacement for anyone's Oppo players.
 
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Robert Zohn

Robert Zohn

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All true, except you need to see this player before thinking it's not a worthy successor to OPPO. The HDR Optimizer is a very big advantage to anyone who watches UHD/HDR BD and or streams HDR content. Panasonic's UB9000 has several other additional features and benefits over OPPO's latest and highest end player the 205.

Since you are in NY I'd love for you to stop by to see this new high-end player for yourself.

Here's just one of Panasonic's UB9000 on-screen menu that I believe you will like.

Panasonic UB9000 Info Screen.jpg
 

Wombat

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So is CD. That didn't stop Panasonic from making CD players and including that format in the UB9000.

Oh, well. :( My Panasonic BWT760 BR recorder doesn't provide for HDCD, let alone SACD either. I rely on an old Oppo DV-980H DVD player for multi-format capability.
 
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Robert Zohn

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Yes, it plays audio CDs and can decode all Hi-Res Audio files, like DSD (5.6 MHz/2.8 MHz) ALAC, FLAC and WAV files.

Next week I'l be trying some MQA CDs
 

The Dragon

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Yes, it plays audio CDs and can decode all Hi-Res Audio files, like DSD (5.6 MHz/2.8 MHz) ALAC, FLAC and WAV files.

Next week I'l be trying some MQA CDs

I just don't get products like this. Not supporting the legacy formats for hi res audio (DVD-A and SACD) make this of no interest to me. Basically, If I want to build a HDD full of hi res files to play in DSD or PCM, no problem. If I want to play my older media, play it in something else (or buy it all over again).
 

amirm

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That's fine but strange that it plays DSD files but not SACDs. Just saying.........................
The politics there are strong in having to pay royalties to Sony/Philips on the drive.
 

jhaider

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I just don't get products like this. Not supporting the legacy formats for hi res audio (DVD-A and SACD) make this of no interest to me.

Ditto. This is the Audio Science Review forum, not the Video Science Review forum. So HDR magic is a lot less relevant than DVD-A and SACD.
 

restorer-john

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The UB9000 has exceptional build quality.

It's a very sad day indeed when this is regarded as "exceptional build quality":

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And an equally sad day when Panasonic install Nippon Chemicon capacitors instead of their own excellent (but more expensive) capacitors.

I see yet another Chinese made, light pressed steel-cased, failure prone SMPS supply with a internal fan to pull dust in through the edges of the disc tray. A few bits of extruded aluminium and four hex-head screws doesn't 'exceptional' make. There is nothing remotely 'flagship' about it.

I understand the days of actual battleship-grade construction, in disc spinners is sadly well and truly gone, and I know it must be exciting to get a new model slightly better built than average, but it's clearly not remotely in the same league as their actual 'flagship' reference HiFi gear and it seems to be the wrong color anyway.

I'm sure it performs respectably well with 4K video, but tell me this, how long does it take to recognise the disc types? Does it use yet another plastic junk mechanism simply covered in a metal plate with a 'premium sticker'? Does it use a cheap brushed Chinese spindle motor with a short life, or an expensive BSL motor like used on real transports? Is it a linear motor tracking sled or just a plastic rack and reduction drive like 99% of all other players?

I think I already know the answers to those questions, so they are mostly rhetorical- no need to answer.
 
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Robert Zohn

Robert Zohn

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Amir is correct, if the UB9000 was SACD capable royalties would be required and again as Amir said, politics are also in play.

Since OPPO exited the BD business, their are no competitive BD players that support SACD. I understand and agree that SACD support would have been an important feature and I have stressed this in my reports and I will continue to do so. Supporting all formats of Hi Res audio is a good thing. Further, with the UB820 and UB9000 support for all HDR formats, e.g. HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR is important and make this player the only universal HDR player available.

Regarding the build quality I can't address all of your comments and you have more knowledge than I do on this subject. With that said when you compare this player's build quality to all other BD players I believed you will agree on the excellent build quality. Here's just a few reasons why I and many respected a/v equipment reviewers agree on the excellent build quality of the UB9000.

The box is heavy metal that is most heavily weighted on the bottom to give the unit a low center of gravity. The frame is also heavily supported and separated by a lot of well placed steel plates adding to the rigidity, build quality and vibration reduction. The top and bottom of the box is solid steel. The front and back are solid aluminum, not plastic like most BD players.

The optical drive also has steel plates to add rigidity to the drive mechanism.

The chassis design completely separates the audio and video circuitry and separate dedicated power supplies drive the audio and video sections. By keeping the circuits separated and providing dedicated power supplies they keep the signal paths clean of noise to further help preserve the best possible sonic performance.

The chassis connectors are high grade and the audio performance is excellent when the player is connected to a high-end 2-channel audio system through the back panels balanced XLR ports.

The UB9000 is black as most video gear is also black to avoid reflections.

HDR Optimizer feature is brilliant, new and exclusive to the UB820 and UB9000. I've tested the HDR Optimizer on all 2018 premium TVs and several projectors the the HDR video performance is, well can I say, exceptional when compared to all other BD players. By remapping the HDR PQ curve to each display's peak luminance capacity the player maintains all of the specular highlights and delivers a smooth tonal gradation the the entire HDR range. You see all of the detail and color volume that's on the disc. No blown-out bright areas and you see all of the detail in the high luminance areas like detail in the sky and clouds and all of the brightest image areas.
 
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Dismayed

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I have an older Panasonic blu ray player. The wifi has always been troublesome, and the streaming is awful. But who knows? maybe they finally got it right!

I now use Amazon's fire TV for streaming.
 
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Robert Zohn

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Doesn't the back panel say that it's made in China?
Oops, yes my engineering sample does say "made in China" I was originally told the UB9000 would be built in Japan.

I edited my post to remove the country of origin until we confirm where the UB9000 MP will be built.
 
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