Sony BDP-S1700/K Review (Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Transport)

[aagstn]

Loved to see such a great review of a nice budget option. I have held on to my S790 and X800M2 because I felt they did a great job as audio players. I had no idea even this Sony player would perform so well as a transport.

 

[xlinknz]

I have a Sony s590 and s5100 both play SACD and Blu-way but not DVD-A, both allow me to rip the SACDs DSD layer to DSF for playback

 

[Bobby Bass]

Thanks for the review. Glad to see that it measures well. No bells and whistles as you noted but that’s not what I was looking for to play BluRays and CDs on a secondary TV and AVR 7.1 surround sound system. Picked up an open-box unit in excellent condition for $77 US. Works and sounds great. A great deal.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Regarding the Sony 1700U available for $114, AI says: Outside of their market packaging quirks, both units share the exact same underlying Sony design architecture.

Please don’t rely on AI. It is usually wrong.

 

[Eulipian]

Please don’t rely on AI. It is us

The official Sony operating instructions (document 5-043-304-11(3)) covers both the BDP-S1700/K and BDP-S1700/U under a single shared manual, and lists both under a single FCC Supplier's Declaration of Conformity — Model: YY0156D / YY0158D — with the same responsible party (Sony Electronics Inc., San Diego, CA).

YY0156D: Corresponds to the BDP-S1700/K model, intended for specific regional markets.

YY0158D: Corresponds to the BDP-S1700/U model, intended for the United States market.

The key difference lies in the supplied accessories: the BDP-S1700/U (YY0158D) includes a High Speed HDMI Cable in the box, whereas the BDP-S1700/K (YY0156D) does not.

I didn't want to clutter up the thread with such trivialities, but I forgot that AI references are a trigger for some folks. I'm providing this additional information as I understand it's useful to help some people realize that there may be other reasonably intelligent people in the universe. Have a great day. On with the "fun and learning"!

 

[Billy Budapest]

I didn't want to clutter up the thread with such trivialities, but I forgot that AI references are a trigger for some folks.

They are not a trigger, but rather they are often (and even usually) wrong.

 

[effj]

Thanks for the awesome, in-depth review! I bought the U variant of this model last year (currently $113 at Crutchfield), and it’s a real treat to know that Sony nailed the CD transport implementation.

 

[mrmeng430]

I have the BDP-BX350 (from Costco) which is the same as BDP-S3500 (at Best Buy) from 2015, which has wireless WI-FI receiver. I guess the play specs are the same with the s1700. Glad I did not toss it in the trash, just had to clean off a thick layer of dust from the last 11 years it was sitting, still works today. I'll use it as a CD transport for the Fiio Warmer DAC and SMSL PA200 amps as monoblocks to feed power hungry Emotiva ERT 8.3 towers. Thanks for the review.

 

[snowbl1nd]

Thanks for the review.
I bought the BDP-S3700 at a flea market for 10 euros and tested it through UPNP as a renderer via Wi-Fi.
Apparently my player is limiting clipping.

1kHz, 0db / Jitter / Shift

 

[NTTY]

There is obviously (good) digital processing. It does not create much of distortion/noise but there is modification of the digital stream somewhere.

 

[DrZingo]

Nice, especially the ability to read even the worst abused discs. But without a display it's a big no for me.

It unfortunately always tends to be the same two issues with these players - the noise and the lack of a display. Why they are so noisy when playing CDs I don't quite understand, it's fairly low rpms.

 

[halverhahn]

Lack of a display: Instead of connecting the player to a TV, for example, you can use a small 10-inch HDMI screen to display track information and browse from CDs, DVDs, BDs and USB devices.

 

[Roland68]

Lack of a display: Instead of connecting the player to a TV, for example, you can use a small 10-inch HDMI screen to display track information and browse from CDs, DVDs, BDs and USB devices.

However, 7", 5", or even 4.3" displays would suffice; after all, the display doesn't need to be larger than the player itself
HDMI displays like that can be had for as little as €20–40.

 

[halverhahn]

However, 7", 5", or even 4.3" displays would suffice; after all, the display doesn't need to be larger than the player itself
HDMI displays like that can be had for as little as €20–40.

Exactly
But it's hard to read a 4.3" screen from the sofa

 

[tccalvin]

Now I'm curious about how the HDMI audio performs...

 

[Roland68]

Now I'm curious about how the HDMI audio performs...

Just like with your TV or computer? Why should it be any different?

 

[Roland68]

Now I'm curious about how the HDMI audio performs...

However, the S/PDIF output is typically used—which is also what was used in this test.
For the 44.1 kHz sample rate used by CD players, S/PDIF is more than sufficient.
Extracting the audio signal from the HDMI signal makes absolutely no sense with this device, unless you are connecting it to an AVR with an HDMI input.

 

[tccalvin]

Just like with your TV or computer? Why should it be any different?

I don't know... can it be any different?

Is the full 24-bit 48kHz signal preserved when, say, playing a DVD or Blu-ray via HDMI? Or does the truncation happen before the signal hits the HDMI output?

 

[Roland68]

I don't know... can it be any different?

Is the full 24-bit 48kHz signal preserved when, say, playing a DVD or Blu-ray via HDMI? Or does the truncation happen before the signal hits the HDMI output?

Normally, the output matches what is stored on the disc, unless you change the settings. However, this generally applies in all cases.
Please bear in mind that the player—like most others—cannot play DVD-Audio discs.

 

[Jazz]

Would a Sony BDP-S350 perform the same? It is bigger, has a screen, Toslink, coax, and includes internal DAC to RCA.